Beautiful Disaster
by GabbiCalabrese
Summary: Any words that Isabelle or Alec were saying went completely over Jace's head as he watched Clarissa Fray attempt to console Molly. She was beautiful in ways that she didn't understand, which only made Jace crave her more.
1. Clumsy Little Heart

**Okay, so I finished the Mortal Instruments series like a week or two ago. I must say, it was fantastic! Definitely tied with Vampire Academy for my favorite series. With that in mind, I knew I had to write a fanfic for it, despite the large number of unfinished stories I already have. **

**Jace is just so delicious I had to write about him. **

**This is an all human story because I am awful at writing action and if they were Shadowhunters there would have to be a lot of action. I apologize if I butcher Jace's character as well. The sarcasm that Cassandra Clare created for him was absolutely brilliant and I'm not quite sure it is possible to compare to that, but I'll do my best.**

**DISCLAIMER: If I could own Jace, believe me, I would. But the truth of the matter is that I can't because Cassandra Clare does. This all belongs to her :D**

Jace Wayland always hated this part of his relationships: the ending. He didn't hate it because what he and whatever girl he was dating at that time had a connection and that what he felt for her was amazing. No, _he_ didn't believe that and that was the problem. When he decided to break off his relationships, the girls refused to cooperate. They refused to believe that Jace really was just in it for the fun.

They all believed that they could change him, transform him into this guy who wanted to buy chocolates and flowers. That was absolutely ridiculous, of course—chocolates would make them fat. The funny part of it all was that their moms, their best friends, even Isabelle would warn each and every one of them that once they fell in love with Jace, he would run. They ignored it and fell in love with him anyway, and he would run. He would always run.

Women saw what they wanted to see. Jace learned that a long time ago. With his golden looks they figured he must have a heart of gold too. They always figured that Jace was much too good of a guy to break their hearts. The truth of it all was simple. He had experience. A lot of it. So much so that he learned how to precisely use his charm to make any girl bend over backwards for him.

He didn't lie to them, though. Lies only caused more of a mess than anything. Girls always tried to _accuse_ him of lying, but that was only to ease their own souls. If Jace Wayland was nothing but a liar then it wasn't the girl's fault that she fell in love with him. It couldn't be!

"Jace, no!" Molly cried as she ran her fingers through her thick blond hair.

"Sorry sweetheart," Jace said, standing up from the bench they were sitting on. He learned that it was best to say it and then leave. He especially did not want to stick around for the tears. "Heartbreaks happen. You'll get used to it." He patted her shoulder gently then turned on his heels and headed for the cafeteria to find Isabelle and Alec Lightwood.

When he reached them, Isabelle was gazing out the window where Molly sat with her face in her hands, pity lining every aspect of her face. Alec shook his head and sighed. "Poor girl. Did you at least go easy on her?"

Jace sat beside Isabella and shrugged. "Define easy."

Alec sighed again and Isabelle's eyes snapped back to Jace. "You don't always have to be a jerk, Jace. Haven't you heard of the term "amicably"?"

The smug grin that had inhabited Jace's face dropped and he scowled. "Haven't you ever heard of the term "loyalty"? Whose side are you on, Isabelle? Besides, it's not like you are much better. Shall I go ask poor Myles what your kind words had been when you broke up with him? What about Seth?"

Before Isabelle could spit out some sort of snappy retort, Alec held up a silencing hand. "The two of you have been extremely irritable lately, what's going on?"

Isabelle paled slightly as Jace's mouth lifted up at the corners once more. Isabelle had been mortified with the incident that had occurred only a few nights ago. She knew that it was nothing that would affect Jace, but it would tarnish her own reputation. Of course, Isabelle was one of the few people that Jace actually cared about so he would never do that to her.

She didn't know that, though, so the situation was made all the more joyful for him.

Alec seemed to notice their odd reactions and shot Jace a questioning look. "Ask Isabelle," Jace smirked.

Jace was vaguely aware of Isabelle's response as he was completely transfixed on the window. Only minutes before it was Isabelle that had been peering out of the glass, feeling bad for Molly. Jace didn't care about his ex-girlfriend of course, it was the delicate red head beside her that had captured his attention.

Any words that Isabelle or Alec were saying went completely over Jace's head as he watched the Clarissa Fray attempt to console Molly. She was beautiful in ways that she didn't understand, which only made Jace crave her more.

She was sweet and intelligent though, and that combination made her an impossible target. Girls like that were much smarter than to fall for Jace Wayland.

**HERP DERP. This is really short :O**

**And poorly constructed because I'm not good writing in this perspective, but I have a feeling the next chapter will be easier. Tell me what you think and if you want me to continue. **


	2. Take a Step Back

**LA LA LA! You guys are awesome. I know it's pathetic but I got five reviews in less than twenty-four hours and nothing really even happened in the first chapter :O**

**You guys make me all the more confident :D**

**So, for that I grant you with chapter two already! And, you will also get three different POVs! I'm so kind ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: Cassandra Clare is an awesome writer and if I was as great as her, then I wouldn't be posting on a website. But I'm not as good as she is, therefore I can't possibly own any of the magnificent characters from TMI. **

Clary was hastily making her way to the cafeteria. She accidentally forced herself to skip breakfast when she woke up and sketched her dream: a boy about Clary's age, maybe a few years older, with snow white hair and coal black eyes. She didn't recall ever meeting anybody that looked like that; so superior and powerful. She would remember, right? With his sharp features and mysterious air, Clary couldn't help putting him on paper and believed that it was definitely worth it. The sketch had turned out to be one of her best pictures yet. When Simon saw it he said that the Tisch classes were working wonders.

As her little legs carried her towards the building where she could already see Simon waiting for her, she was interrupted by the sound of light sobs. Clary hesitated in moving forward as she saw Molly Radford with her face in her hands, crying uncontrollably. She considered just acting like she hadn't witnessed anything and keep moving. Molly was so popular that she had dozens of other people that would be happy to help make her feel better.

But Clary knew that was an awful thing to do. Molly had always been nice to her, she even showed Clary how to show texture on a painting in middle school. So, despite her rumbling stomach, Clary stepped to the otherwise abandoned bench and rested a hand lightly on Molly's back.

She felt no need to ask what exactly was wrong, because she _knew_. She was crying for the same reason half of the female population cried at The New York Academy of Art—she had been foolish enough to date Jace Wayland.

Clary had never understood why every girl tried to change Jace. Was it not perfectly obvious that he would never be anything more than a manipulative chauvinist? He would never realize that women were made for more than his pleasures. "He's not worth it," Clary said.

Molly sniffled a few times before bringing her face up. Her usually gorgeous blue eyes her rimmed in red and Clary could see several tear tracks streaked across her tanned skin. "H-he patted my shoulder, Clary!" she cried. "He just p-patted it. Like I meant absolutely nothing to him."

Clary was sort of beginning to regret her decision of cheering up Molly. What was she supposed to say? She clearly couldn't go with the truth that, after two months, she really hadn't meant anything to Jace. Instead, she grabbed Molly's hand in hers and looked her in the eyes. "Jace Wayland is a jerk. You can do much better."

She erupted into another round of sobs as Clary felt a pair of eyes on her. She figured it was Simon, wondering why Clary was wasting her time. When she turned her head, though, it wasn't her best friend that was staring. It was the source of Molly's tears. The way he was staring at Molly was one of awe. Was it possible that someone so egotistical and arrogant felt guilty for causing another broken heart? Clary doubted it. When he noticed Clary looking at him, he arched an eyebrow and smirked. He actually smirked.

Clary was disgusted. How could anybody be so self-centered? She hadn't even realized it was possible to care about only yourself so much. She averted her gaze and loosened her hand from Molly's death grip. "It will be alright," she said, standing up. She hated to leave Molly in such a vulnerable state, but her stomach was giving her insistent reminders of her missed meal.

-#^#-

"Jace, who are you staring at?" Isabelle asked once she finally realized that he wasn't listening to a single word she had been babbling for the past five minutes. She followed his gaze and once she saw the flash of red standing up from beside Molly, she knew Jace's intentions. "You wouldn't!"

As Clary walked into the building, disappearing out of his line of sight, he turned back to the girl who had practically been a sister to him since he was ten. "Wouldn't I? Alec, do you think I could break through that sweet and innocent barrier?"

Jace could tell that Isabelle was appalled, even though she viewed guys the same way he saw girls: conquests. Of course, Isabelle much preferred guys that would set Maryse and Robert off. "Please," she begged. "I know I don't say this a lot, but Clary's in my photography class and I actually kind of like her. Anybody but her."

"Sorry, Iz," said Alec as he recognized the look of determination on Jace's face. "He already has his mind set. But, for the record, I'm not sure you _can_ do it, Jace."

Jace barked a half-hearted laugh. "You never do." He stood up from the table and strode towards his next objective casually, but with his typical sense of arrogance. Alec and Isabelle watched him go, knowing better than to try to interfere.

"He's going to destroy her," Isabelle said. Despite her claims of liking Clary, her tone didn't contain any ounce of sympathy. She only spoke matter-of-factly. It was always the same and Isabelle knew it. Clary looked especially fragile, too. There was no way that it would end well.

-#^#-

Even from a distance Simon Lewis could see the familiar tenderness that decorated his best friend's face. He watched her as she soothed—or made an effort to—Molly. It hadn't been very successful considering she was still curled up in the same position, still blubbering as if the world were ending. He didn't really care about the blond, though. Clary was so compassionate, so incredibly wonderful that he was almost positive that she shared Molly's hurt feelings.

The only thing that concerned him more was that Jace Wayland was only a few paces behind Clary and he had that _look_ on his face that most guys wore when they spoke to her. The look that probably even Simon himself wore.

When Clary stopped beside him, he couldn't help but snake a protective arm around her waist. She smiled at him the same way she had for years. It was so beautiful and so painfully friendly. He wondered if he would ever earn anything more than a friendly smile from her.

"Clary?" A voice asked from behind them. He knew that voice; everyone did. It was everywhere: on the morning news, echoing through the halls of the Academy. Even if you had never spoken with Jace, you would know it was him just by the certain silky element that it contained. Simon was sure that when he turned around he would be greeted by a sickeningly charming—and chipped—grin.

Clary must have known it as well, because Simon noticed that before she turned to face him she plastered on a polite little smile. That smile held as she addressed him and it couldn't have thrilled Simon more. Of course, he should have expected it. He knew that Clary would never go for a guy like Wayland, still he expected her face to glaze over with lust as she took in his completely golden features.

"Yes?" Nobody but Simon would have recognized the strain in that simple word. Clary had the same feelings towards Jace as he did.

Jace's honey eyes flitted down to the arm that Simon still had draped around Clary, and something flashed in them. Competition, perhaps? "I was hoping," he said, looking back up to Clary. "that maybe I could speak to you. In private?"

"Oh, Jace," Clary said as she waved the invitation off. She had obviously noticed the same thing Simon did. That was his Clary! "Anything you have to say, you can say in front of Simon."

His determination or disgusting smile didn't even waver as he told her, "That may be true. But I would prefer to speak to only you."

"Well, Wayland," Simon imputed. "Hasn't anybody ever told you that you can't always get what you want?"

Jace's gaze flickered between Simon and Clary, then finally rested on Simon. His infuriating grin grew even wider as he locked eyes with Simon. "I take it that that is something you're quite familiar with?"

Simon's agitation grew as did the grimace he held on his face. Who did Jace think he was? Before he could ask, Clary interrupted their testosterone-fest.

"Jace, I'm actually really hungry so either say what you need to or go."

Simon could see the surprise in Jace's features. Leave it to Clary to be the first girl to reject the mighty Jace Wayland. Simon couldn't stop the smirk that stretched across his lips.

"I'll see you later Clarissa. Hopefully, though, there will be less uninvited company." Jace pivoted and headed back to the Lightwoods.

When he was out of hearing range, Simon chuckled and said, "Did he ever take into consideration that _he_ was the uninvited company?"

Clary nodded in agreement and released a giggle that broke Simon's heart.

**OH SNAP. Who could reject the gorgeous Jace? You'll soon find out that nobody can. :D**

**Review and tell me what you think. I even made this longer for you guys **

**Oh, and the chapter titles are all going to be Every Avenue songs. If you don't know who they are, look them up. My favorite band ever! Well, kinda. **


	3. Mindset

**So, my precious readers. I would like to thank you all so much because really you guys are the shit! People are already saying that they like my story and I haven't even really done much. Thank you all sooooooo much. **

**I got one review that said it was great even if the idea is overdone. I suppose that the whole concept in general is overdone. But I do things differently. That's all I can really say. I try to think of original ways for certain events to happen. I even include a little bit of foreshadowing :O If you've read any of my other stories, you'll find that I usually have an interesting plot. **

**Okay, bye, loves. Enjoy!**

Only three more classes, Clary thought. She only had to endure three more hours of boredom and torture before she could kick back with Simon and watch whatever horrible movies were no television.

She had been attending the Academy since as long as she could remember and she had long since gotten used to the unusually long schedule. Her days consisted of eight classes and lunch in the middle. That's basically all she's known, but for some reason this day had been exceptionally tiresome for Clary. She was beyond eager to get it over with.

Her next class was photography which she was not looking forward to. She chose it as one of her electives because she figured it would be easy and fun, but that was surely not the case. Clary had quickly discovered that she was better off just sticking to her sketchpad. Not only was she an absolutely terrible photographer, but every other Monday her teacher, Mrs. Gail, would assign an impossible project for the students.

_It's alright_, Clary told herself. She would just do her best as usual and get her typical B or C.

She arrived late to the classroom earning a glare from Mrs. Gail. Clary believed that Mrs. Gail held a secret resentment towards her. She was an attentive student, always trying her hardest, but the teacher had a particular distaste towards painters and sketch artists. Mrs. Gail believed that their art was based only off of what they saw, unlike photography, where beauty is captured in rare forms. That wasn't true about artists, but the woman refused to accept otherwise.

As Clary settled into her uncomfortable plastic chair, she did her best to focus on her teacher's infamous rambling. She was explaining the details on their current project, and then she dropped a word that Clary absolutely dreaded. _Partners_.

"Headmaster Souza **(A/N: Sorry. I have the Darkest Powers series on the brain at the moment.)**told me that I was not doing a very good job on emphasizing teamwork. I told him that this is a class for nature photography and the only relationships you are required to form is with yourself and the land around you. He told me that if I wanted my paycheck I had to follow his orders. Therefore, for this project you are required to pair up with one other person."

Clary sighed inwardly and bit back her spiking anxiety. She knew almost everybody in her grade by name, but most of them she had never carried a conversation with. For as long as she could remember, her main target had always been Simon. She had seen the ways girls backstabbed and betrayed one another, and she was never willing to join that crowd. Sure, she talked to people other than Simon, but all of her chats had been made up of mostly drab pleasantries.

She watched as her peers immediately ran to one another. Clary seemed to be the only one not excited about the partnering. She slumped in her seat, accepting the fate of working alone. No matter what the teacher said, there was an odd number of students in the class, which meant that one person would be working individually. Considering that the class consisted of only girls, Clary was positive that she would be that lonely person.

"Hi Clary," a velvet voice said from behind. Clary reluctantly turned in her chair. It would be an understatement to say she was shocked to find Isabelle Lightwood addressing her.

"Uh, hi," she stammered awkwardly. Isabelle wasn't one of the obnoxious popular girls that Clary couldn't stand. In fact, she stuck mostly to just hanging out with Jace and her brother, Alec, but she was certainly intimidating. She was tall and graceful with long, dark hair that hung below her waist in a braid. Her eyes were equally dark and shining down on Clary with amusement. Isabelle Lightwood was strikingly beautiful and had a certain ferocity that would set any female on edge.

"We're working together," Isabelle insisted, catching Clary completely off guard. Clary's green eyes widened and she looked down at her hands. What could Isabelle want with her? Sensing Clary's hesitation and uncertainty, Isabelle continued on. "Come _on_, Clary. I don't bite, not unless you piss me off. Besides, I've seen your work and we both know that you could only benefit from teaming up with me."

That was very true. Whereas most of Clary's pictures came out blurry and unidentifiable, Isabelle was practically a professional at wielding a camera. Which only brought Clary back to questioning Isabelle's intentions. They had never really spoken before and Isabelle has gone to the Academy just as long as Clary. "Uh, Isabelle, I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Call me Izzy!" She grinned, flashing perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. "We're going to have to meet up after school."

Clary didn't necessarily remember agreeing, but it would be rude to decline. Plus, did she really want to work by herself? "Why?" Clary asked.

Isabelle rolled her eyes and jerked her chin to the front of the classroom. Clary turned to see a black and white photo of some type of valley projected on the screen. "The only thing that Mrs. Gail is going to be letting us do during class is take notes on the history of Ansel Adams."

Once again, Clary knew that Izzy was right, but she was still uncomfortable with the idea. "Your room or mine?" Isabelle pursued.

Clary pictured her room in her head and cringed. It looked as if a tornado had hit it. She would have been fine with Simon seeing it, because he was Simon. But Isabelle Lightwood was a different story. "Uh, yours," Clary answered.

"I should warn you," Isabelle said. "I share a room with my brother, Alec."

"What? How?" Clary had never heard of that happening. Boys and girls had a good amount of freedom at the Academy, but their dorm rooms were on opposite sides of the campus.

"I have my resources," she snickered mischievously. "See you after school. Meet me in front of the girl dorms!" She flung her hand in the air as some sort of wave and then strode eloquently back to her seat.

Clary sighed. So much for crappy movies with Simon.

-#*#-

Jace sauntered lazily to his seventh period class: painting. He was a generally prompt student, but today he wanted to be late to that class. He wanted to gain the attention of all of his peers, but more specifically he wanted to gain Clary's attention. She was the only one in that room who held his interest at the moment. Unfortunately, her fairly rat-looking friend, Simon, was in that class as well. He would be waiting eagerly to break up any conversation Jace intended to have with Clary.

Poor guy, Jace thought. He was whipped for the little red head and she couldn't even see it. Maybe if he grew some testicles he would be able to build up the nerve to tell his best friend that he was in love with her. Jace almost hoped that he would. If Clary rejected him, then maybe Simon would not feel such a fervent urge to protect her.

Unrequited love was something Jace had always found amusing.

Once he finally reached the door to the paint room, Jace took his time turning the knob, opening the door. He knew he had all eyes on him as he strolled to his table in the back of the class. He slipped on his signature arrogant smirk, and as he turned to sit down he planned to make eye contact with Clary, to let her know that she was the target of his affection now.

Only she wasn't looking at him. She was engaged in conversation with the rat-boy. Would she really rather look at him with his thick-rimmed glasses and boring black hair, rather than Jace in all of his golden glory? He knew that the girl felt nothing romantically towards her best friend, but it still irritated Jace that she would not pay any attention to him.

"Wayland, you're late!" barked the slightly manly teacher, Ms. Decosta.

"Really? I thought that the rest of the class was just early."

The teacher glared at Jace, then shrugged it off, instructing the class to go get their paints.

Jace watched as Simon stood from his stool. Clary tugged on his sleeve and asked him something. Simon nodded and set off towards the counter in the back, leaving Clary sitting alone.

Jace smiled as he recognized the perfect opportunity. Jace sidled to her table and slid onto the wooden stool that Simon had previously been occupying. "Hey Fray," he said casually.

Jace could see Clary falter slightly as she realized who had taken the seat beside her. Was she nervous? He smiled in satisfaction. It was about time he earned a proper response from her.

"Oh gosh, Jace." Clary said, placing a hand over her chest. "You scared me. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

Jace arched an eyebrow at the apparently oblivious girl. "I made no effort to be sneaky."

She waved a hand in the air, as if to dismiss whatever he had just said. "I was just…in my own little world," she explained.

Jace smirked. It was genuinely cute how she lost herself inside of her own head at times. He wondered if it was because she preferred her thoughts over the world around her. Jace usually did, though he would never admit it out loud.

"I see how it is. All of us in the real world aren't good enough for you?" he teased.

The delicate little redhead smiled politely at him and shook her head as if to say that wasn't what she meant at all. Then, her eyes traveled over Jace's head, looking past him. The corners of his mouth tilted down into a frown. "No. Simon's good enough."

Jace finally realized what—rather, who—it was that had caught her attention, and Jace turned with a grimace.

"Oh, Wayland. What a surprise," Simon said with a sneer.

"A pleasant one, I'm sure."

"Nah. I'm not a big fan of surprises."

Jace scoffed, but the emotionless arrogance remained on his face. He stood from the stool and gave a nod to Clary. "It was nice speaking to you, Clary," he said before returning to his seat. If only what he said were true. He had barely gotten ten words out of the girl!

-#*#-

"So, what's on the agenda for today, Fray?" Simon asked as he walked her back to the dormitories. "We gonna get high in the woods? Sneak some booze past the dorm matrons and throw a crazy party?"

Clary giggled, imagining her and Simon trying to sneak alcohol into her room. She could see their failure as clear as day. Then, remembering her previous engagements, the laughter abated and Clary sighed. "Sorry, Si, I can't hang out today."

Simon's brows furrowed. "Why not?"

Clary released another sigh, already dreading the later events. "I have…other plans."

Simon stopped walking, body going stiff. "Fray, _please_ don't tell me you made plans with Jace Wayland."

Clary hastily shook her head, feeling her unruly red curls sway along. "Of course not. I actually have to meet up with Isabelle Lightwood."

Simon relaxed and fell back in step beside Clary, a goofy grin replacing his unease. "Isabelle Lightwood?" he asked incredulously, voice taking on a hint of admiration. _He is such a guy_, Clary thought. "Since when are the two of you friends?"

"We're not," Clary replied simply. Simon fixed her with a bewildered look and she threw her shoulders into a shrug. "We're working on a project together."

The two friends arrived in front of the girl dorms and Simon tried for a gallant bow, only managing to look like a complete nerd. Clary sputtered a laugh and waved him away. "You're such a geek," she said.

Simon grinned and placed a light kiss on her cheek. "Good luck, Fray!"

Then he left and Clary looked around nervously for Isabelle. She spotted her leaning patiently against a tree in the courtyard. She headed over to Isabelle, waving shyly once she reached her. Isabelle clapped her hands together and smiled that dazzling smile, immediately making Clary envious. "Clary! I was beginning to think you were going to bail on me!"

Clary merely shook her head and gave Isabelle a small smile that hardly compared to Isabelle's.

-#*#-

"Jace, don't you think a full day of rejection is enough?" Alec asked, trying to be gentle yet make his point clear. Jace, on the other hand, was in no mood to be gentle or kind. He wanted to take his frustration out, but he didn't have the means to do so; the Academy's gym had been shut down for maintenance for the past week. Jace was almost feeling withdrawals from his lack of working out.

"She hasn't _rejected_ me, Alec. If it wasn't for her dumb friend stepping in every second I try to talk to her, I'm sure I would have her swooning by now."

"Maybe," Alec chuckled. "the reason Simon keeps interrupting is because he knows that Clary doesn't want to talk to you."

Jace scowled and shot an icy look at his adopted brother. They were actually very close, but it always felt as if Alec was rooting against him. "Why are you and Izzy so eager to see my failure?"

Alec grinned. "Something needs to shrink that enormous head of yours."

Jace flopped down sideways on Alec's bed, his legs hanging over the edge, feet still touching the ground. He groaned in agitation and raked his hands through his golden hair. He wasn't used to not getting what he wanted. He had tried for girls who played hard to get, girls who had completely brushed him off, but Clary was different. Jace couldn't really tell what she was feeling. During both of those encounters that day she appeared mildly indifferent, polite even. He hated that he couldn't read right through her, couldn't tell if she was only putting on a façade. She was like one of his father's books that Jace had been dying to open. Where had this sudden urge come from, anyways?

"Listen, you're life must be pretty damn good if your main concern is that you can't get the girl you want."

"I will get her," Jace claimed, filling his voice with the anger and disappointment that he would only ever allow Alec to hear.

"Alec!" Isabelle shouted from the other room. Jace could hear the deadbolt like behind her. "I have company! Come be social!"

Jace smirked, glad that Izzy didn't realize that he was there as well. "Great," Alec grumbled. "Probably her latest chew toy—I mean boyfriend."

"Alec," Isabelle said again, voice closer to the boys this time. Seconds later she appeared in the doorway. "Come say hi to—" She cut off when she noticed Jace, eyeing him warily.

"Hey Izzy," he greeted.

"Jace," she said. "I didn't realize you were here."

He grinned. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

Instead of laughing and scoffing as Jace expected, Isabelle only gave a meek smile before turning her attention back to Alec. "Never mind. I see you're busy." She turned on her heels, and grabbed the door shut behind her, but not before Jace caught a glimpse of fiery red.

Jace jumped off of Alec's bed and sprung towards the door. Hope was blossoming in the pit of his chest. He knew there was absolutely no way that Simon would be there, in Alec and Isabelle's home. But then again, he had never really expected Clary to be either. It looked like fate was on his side. Isabelle may have been acting like she hated all that Jace stood for when it came to women, but in the end her loyalty still lay with him and if he wanted alone time with Clary, he would get it.

"Well," Alec muttered. "This just got interesting."

**BLEH! I have no idea why this chapter took me so long to write. But, as I was pulling an all-nighter, I decided there was nothing better to do! Here ye are me loves. I apologize for its utter lack of action or fluff, but a good story builds up to that. **

**No, just so you guys know, Jace is not suddenly in love with Clary. For now, he still views her as a play toy. We all know that will change, but the question is how and why does it change! And when do Clary's feelings for him change? **

**DUN DUN DUN. I know, so suspenseful, right? No? Oh well, I tried. I promise this will get better, just bear with me. **

**In the mean time….REVIEW!**

**At least it was longer this time. I think. **


	4. Boys Will Be Boys

**So, I'd like to start off by thanking my awesome, fantabulous, totally perfect reviewers: **_**WayToPretty, Bookninja15, WOOPWOOP, JaceLover4eva, Serenity Shadowstar, Jace'sclarywithbrownhair, peacefeet girl18, ninjastar954, MaxWaylandGrey, danielle-redfern, hawaiiangrl and Taylor Jade**_**. You guys are the best!**

**Enjoy :]**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Mortal Instruments series. That belongs to Cassandra Clare, much to my dismay. **

Clary absorbed Isabelle's place in amazement. Clary lived in only a room, even being forced to use the public dormitory bathrooms whenever she had to go—it got quite inconvenient when she drank a little too much water before bed and woke up in the middle of the night to pee. But Isabelle and Alec's home was incredible as far as dorms at the Academy went.

It was almost like they shared an apartment rather than a room, with two bedrooms, a small living area, and, Clary noticed with immediate resentment, a bathroom. "Okay, what did you do to get this place?" Clary asked, still scoping with wide eyes.

"Daddy Lightwood has _a lot _of influence here," Izzy explained with a grin. "I've got the hook up."

_No kidding_, Clary thought as the wooden door to what seemed to be Alec's room opened slowly.

"Oh wonderful," Isabelle muttered, taking Clary by surprise. Hadn't she just been calling her brother and telling him to 'be social'? He must have said something to piss her off.

As the door opened wider, though, Clary could see why Isabelle had given an irritated reaction. Instead of the modest and slightly brooding Alec Lightwood, Clary was greeted with a goofy-grin-wearing Jace Wayland. The way he strode over to them so confidently and sure of himself, Clary couldn't help but be reminded of a lion. He contained the same ferocity in his golden eyes that Isabelle held in her chocolate ones. He was just as breathtaking as Izzy as well, if not more so.

"Why, hello Jace! Are you on your way out? Oh, what a shame," Isabelle said through semi-gritted teeth. Her eyes were challenging, daring him to speak against her.

He did.

"Actually, Izzy, you and little Clary are in luck. I was just coming out to be the charming gentleman that your brother fails to be." He turned to Clary, honey eyes shining in satisfaction. "Sorry, Clarissa. Izzy and I are still teaching him manners." **(A/N: Once again: Darkest Powers :]) **

Clary smiled weakly at Jace, unsure why he was suddenly being so nice to her and obviously upsetting Isabelle. Why was the gorgeous Jace Wayland paying attention to the shy Clary Fray? "Hi Jace," she said. "Me and Izzy really need to get started on out photography project. Nice talking to you."

"Clary, when are you going to have a real conversation with me?" Jace asked, placing a fist over his chest as if Clary's immediate dismissal had wounded him. "Besides, Izzy needs to go talk to Alec."

Isabelle's chocolate eyes narrowed, suspicion that Clary couldn't understand sparking like fire. "Wouldn't he just come and get me himself?"

Jace waved a hand in the air. "You know how shy he gets when we are blessed with such lovely company." His eyes briefly slid to Clary. A smirk that indicated trouble flickered across his lips. "I bet he wants to talk about what I saw when—"

"_Okay _Jace," she groaned. The two exchanged a long look, and with a sigh of resignation Isabelle nodded and exited the room.

-#*#-

Clary stood awkwardly in the middle of the Lightwoods' living room, staring desperately at the door that Isabelle had walked through, as if she were silently willing her to return. Once again, Jace found himself questioning what her reaction meant. Did Jace make Clary nervous? That was what he had suspected earlier that day in their painting class, but she seemed unsettled by his presence for different reasons. Did she simply despise Jace so much so that she couldn't stand being alone in the same room as him?

Jace chose not to speak. He wasn't sure where all of his charm had gone, but apparently it fleeted from his mind. He could not conjure up anything even remotely clever to say. He was too busy admiring the sea of green in Clary's eyes and the shock of fiery red curls that cascaded down her shoulders. She was definitely the shy and artistic type, which were always the most interesting.

Clary turned her head away from Jace's gaze. "So you and Molly broke up, huh?"

Jace resisted the urge to chuckle at her attempt to break the uncomfortable air that had fallen between the two of them. "I'd hardly call what we had a relationship, but yes we did. I didn't imagine you would even question that," he said, remembering the way she had tried to cheer Molly up after Jace's heartless dumping.

Clary lifted her shoulders into a shrug. "I guess you never know. For most people, when they date a girl they actually care about them for longer than a week, if at all."

Jace opened his mouth to retort, but he was interrupted by Alec's door slamming open. Out charged a petrified Alec followed by his giggling sister. "JACE!" Alec pointed a demanding finger at Isabelle, which only increased her hilarity. "Get this woman away from me."

Jace turned to his friend with a mixture of amusement and irritation at yet another interference. "What has she done now?"

Alec's face contorted in disgust. With his lips curled back and his nose scrunched, he said, "She put on that dreaded show, Misfits, then went on to give me an exceedingly detailed example of what she would like to do to one of the guys. It was sickening, Jace."

Jace arched an impressed eyebrow at Isabelle. "Any handcuffs involved?"

"Among many things," she snickered proudly. Jace couldn't help letting his eyes wander to Clary who seemed to be enjoying Alec's torture just as much as Izzy.

The irritation was still there. In fact, it had escalated once Jace realized that the only reason Izzy had subjected her brother to something that Alec would think was so horrible was because she needed him to storm out of the room. Jace was not stupid and he had put the pieces together within seconds, but he was too busy laughing at Alec to be upset. Now, the only thing that he wanted to know was what Isabelle's problem was.

She had never once been so set against Jace wanting a girl. It drove him crazy that she was working against him and he didn't know why! What was so special about Clary that had his adoptive sister was trying to protect her? He assumed that it had something to do with The Incident that had occurred only a few days before. He almost grunted in frustration. He never knew that one girl could be so much work and that he would be so exhausted after only one day of chasing. Was one tiny red head really worth it?

All it took was one look at Clary's lingering smile and Jace had his answer.

-#*#-

Clary had just about had enough of Jace by the time she left the Lightwood apartment. He stuck around as Clary and Izzy plotted their project and formed guidelines. In order to complete it by the deadline, Clary would have to meet up with Isabelle every day after school.

Clary quickly learned that Jace was very sarcastic and seemed to have a witty quip for everything. It was infuriating yet somehow alluring. The problem was that Jace _knew_ it was alluring because he had experience. A lot of it. After about an hour, Clary got so annoyed that she got snappy, much to Izzy's pleasure.

It was 9:00 by the time Clary finally was allowed to go back to her own dorm. Clary really liked Isabelle. After she had abandoned Clary to Jace, Clary wasn't sure that she would ever be able to forgive Izzy. But as the night progressed, she found herself joking and gossiping with Isabelle, and having proper girl time that she could never have with Simon.

As Clary said a friendly good-bye to her new friend, Jace jumped up from the brown, leather recliner that he had resided on in boredom halfway through the girls' working session, and offered to walk Clary home. Clary agreed unhesitatingly. It had grown dark and the campus of the Academy always had a chilling and horror film kind of feeling to it at night.

Jace appeared genuinely pleased that Clary had not turned down his offer. He flashed her his signature smirk and held out his arm, which Clary _did_ reject.

The walk back to the girls' dormitories was silent, but not uncomfortable. Jace apparently had some sense of boundaries, and realized that Clary was not in the mood for conversation. When they reached their destination, Jace gave Clary a small smile. It was completely different from his usually-arrogant sneer, and Clary thought it fit the golden boy much better.

"Thanks for walking me back," she said softly. Jace turned and faced her, his honey eyes locking with hers. Clary was not exactly sure what she saw in them, but they sparkled with something beautiful.

"It's what friends do, right?" The smile twisted into something sarcastic and any moment that Clary had believed the two of them were having had vanished.

Jace's words finally registered in Clary's mind, and she was surprised to find herself slightly upset upon hearing them. "You want to be friends?" she asked. She was almost certain he had been hinting at something more, though she would never be stupid enough to enter into a relationship with Jace.

"Of course," he scoffed. "What else?"

"Oh," Clary sputtered. "I just—I didn't think you wanted to be friends." She broke away from his gaze and looked at her feet, embarrassed at her presumptuousness.

"Goodnight Clarissa. I'll see you tomorrow." He turned swiftly on his heels and left.

Clary stood in the same spot, watching him go. What had just happened? Clary knew there was no way that Jace had reeled her in. His good looks aside, there was nothing positive about the guy. There was no way she was actually upset when he said he wanted to be her friend.

There was absolutely no way that somebody like Jace could ever be interested in a girl like Clary. She knew that, too. So why had the word _friend_ shocked her so much?

**Okay, I am so GLAD to be done with this chapter. AGH it annoys me. I don't like it at all. It took me a long time to write and I had half of it written, then I erased it and restarted. Idk. There is just something about it that I really don't like. **

**WELLL…..At least there is a small spark of connection brewing. Except what was up with Jace and calling Clary a "friend"? This is just a filler, but….I will give you a sneak peek at what is coming up in the next few chapters.**

**-Clary and Jace get hot on the dance floor. **

**-Introduction of MAGNUS BANE! **

**-A jealous Simon. **

**-And (maybe, I'm not really sure. You guys can tell me what you think about this one.) a drunken Isabelle. **

**I'll try to get the good parts up as soon as possible. TEHEHEHS TO JACE AND CLARY'S UPCOMING ALMOST-FLUFF. **

**In the mean time, review. I would seriously understand if I don't get many reviews for this chapter. I seriously hate it for some reason. **

**Oh and beeteedubbs, that show Misfits I was talking about….not dreaded. It's actually a super awesome UK show. I don't live in the UK but I found it on Youtube. I advise you look it up. It kicks ass.**

**REVIEW :D**


	5. Between You and I

**Dear lord, it has been SO long since I've updated. But, I have a partially acceptable excuse. I just moved to a different state, and it was kind of crazy. It's taken me a while to get settled, but I'm finally ready to begin writing once more! :D I hope I haven't lost my touch! **

**Thank you to those who reviewed and added this story to their alerts! Much appreciated! If it wasn't for you guys I doubt I would even continue to write after everything that's happened!  
**

**I'm trying to get this done quickly and get it done well. I promised myself I have to update at least three of my stories before I work on my own book! I'm really sorry about the wait! **

Friday came a lot quicker than Clary had expected. When Simon had told her what day it was, she was almost shocked. Perhaps it was because she suspected four more days with Jace Wayland never more than ten feet away would be long, maybe even painful. Instead, it was actually fun. Of course, Jace's sarcasm grew tiring, and then Clary would snap back at him. Izzy found entertainment in that, and when Clary would spit out a particularly good come back, it seemed to impress Jace, though he tried hard not to show it.

As difficult as it was for Clary to believe, they were all getting along.

"Clary, this photography is truly horrific," Isabelle said, sifting through the different pictures Clary had taken. "I've been teaching you all week, and the results are yet to change."

Burying her face in her hands, she said, "I know. Maybe I should just quit."

"I don't really care for quitters," said Jace, who was leaning against the far wall of the living area, eating cold tomato soup right out of the can.

Clary brought her head back up and scowled at Jace. It was a facial expression he had no doubt become familiar with from her. "I can only imagine you mean that with relationships aside."

He narrowed his golden eyes, but the smirk remained on his face. Clary hadn't expected anything less. She was beginning to believe that Jace didn't really care about anything that anybody said or did, with the exception of Alec. Maybe. "I do not _quit_ relationships. I just end them before they go anywhere."

It wasn't the first time that the two of them were in an argument involving Jace's love life. In fact, they usually had about three or four a day. Clary hated to admit it to even herself, but she might have been bringing it up so often as a sort of revenge for what he had said Monday night.

_You want to be friends?  
Of course, what else?_

It was odd. Clary was certain that she wasn't interested in Jace. She told herself that every time she caught herself wanting to brush his golden hair out of his eyes, or imagined touching the hard ridges of his abdomen. And it was true, she wasn't interested in him.

Attracted, yes. But not interested,

Still, she was hurt that all he wanted was to be friends. Sometimes she wondered if it was only because he wounded her ego, but she wasn't an egotistical person.

Friends.

Clary snorted. "I'm not sure I see the difference."

"That's because you don't much about relationships, Clarissa. The only person you hang out with is that one rat-looking friend, and he's clearly more inexperienced than you are."

"Simon has had plenty of girlfriends," Clary retorted, growing agitated. Clary was admittedly protective of Simon, and she hated it when others made fun of him. He may have been a little geeky, sure, but he was sweet and he cared about Clary.

Jace's cheek twitched slightly, but he just shook his head. "_Those_ don't count," he chuckled. "Those girls are strange. They're apparently attracted to pests."

Jace pushed himself off of the wall and sauntered towards where Clary sat on the floor. He stopped in front of her and looked down. She was sure something flickered in his eyes for only a moment, but since it passed at quickly as it came, she convinced herself that she imagined it. There was still an intensity, a ferocity, in his gaze that Clary knew could never be duplicated. He was Jace Wayland. He may have been an asshat at times, but he was still Jace.

Isabelle, who Clary had almost forgotten was there, stood up from the carpet and clapped her hands together, suddenly excited. Clary averted her eyes from Jace and raised her eyebrows at Izzy. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you!" Isabelle exclaimed.

When Clary didn't say anything, Isabelle continued. "I'm taking you to a party this weekend."

A groan came from Jace, but Clary ignored it. "A party?"

"Yup! He's one of Alec's friends. Weird name, I don't really remember it. But apparently, this guy hosts _huge_ blowouts." Isabelle grinned mischievously.

Clary had never been big on partying. Simon's friend, Erick, had thrown a lot of parties in his garage over summer vacation, but Clary had only gone to a few. Even with Simon's pleading. "I'm not really sure, Izzy…"

"Clary, please. For me? You're the only girl friend that I have, and as you can imagine, life with just Alec and Jace can get pretty drab. Not to mention, I hear that there are the _most_ delicious guys at his parties." Isabelle's eyes did a quick flicker to the door, then moved back to Clary. "Not that it really concerns you what kind of guys will be going."

What was she getting at? Clary wondered. Obviously Isabelle had a way with men; she was incredibly beautiful. But was she insinuating that next to Isabelle, Clary was hopeless with guys? No, Isabelle could be blunt and she knew she was beautiful, but she would never say something like that to anybody, let alone Clary. "Uh, what?" she finally asked.

Eyes lighting up in understanding, Isabelle chuckled. "I didn't mean anything bad," she explained. "I just meant that Jace would be there."

"He will?"

"Of course. You do realize we don't do anything without him, right?"

"I suppose. But so what if he's there? What does that have to do with me?"

Isabelle smirked and waggled her eyebrows. "Come on, Clary. You can play hard to get all you want, but there is no way that Jace will let you dance with any other guy."

"I—Hard to get?" Clary sputtered, confusion grabbing hold of her. Is that what Jace thought? That Clary was playing hard to get?

**All right, so it's REALLY short, I know. I'm sorry. I really just wanted to get this out for you guys since it has been so long and I have other updates to make. **

**It's not really a cliff hanger, but it's an interesting ending, I think. **

**Tell me what you think. Review! It's not as great as my previous chapters, because I have to get back into the groove of things, but it'll do for now. The real action happens next chapter :D **

**Oh, and who read CoFA? I DID! I pre-ordered it and then I got it and it was ammmmmaaaaazzzzing. Now I'm reading Clockwork Angel, and it's awesome! I like it as much, if not more than the MI series. Impossible, right? **

**Okay, well review and tell me what you did and did not like!**


	6. Think of You Later

**I must say, I have never known reviewers as kind as my own :D You guys are all super awesome! I came home and checked my email and all of a sudden there was like 234156112316354 new emails, cuzzzz you guys are righteous. And for that I shall try to make this chapter longer! **

**Thanks to: **_**lj3girls; ; hawaiiangrl; J; JaceLover4eva; Bookninja15; zhoutem; Saffa; Hi; 1261aLisSa94; Terry Griffith; runemagic; **_**and **_**sloany.**_

**I'd also like to thank those who have added me to their favorite story/authors and alerts! **

**DISCLAIMER: My name is not Cassandra Clare, therefore I don't have the right to any of these characters or the plot. The words are mine, but the idea all belongs to Cassie! **

Clary's eyes darted frantically around the room. She breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that Jace had apparently left the room noiselessly. "I'm not playing hard to get," she told Izzy with a small shrug. "I just don't like him like that. In fact, I hardly like him at all."

To Clary's surprise, Isabelle bellowed out a laugh. "You expect me to believe that? Clary, I'm not stupid."

"I know you're not stupid, Izzy, but it's true. If you haven't noticed, Jace is kind of a jerk."

"Part of his charm." As Clary opened her mouth to protest, Isabelle held a hand to stop her. "Whether you choose to admit how you feel or not doesn't matter to me. What's important is that you go with us tonight and you look hot. I can't have unattractive company."

Clary rolled her eyes and then paused. "Tonight?"

"Yes. Did I forget to mention that?"

"Well," Clary said, unsure. "I promised Simon that we would hang out today."

She may have imagined it, but Clary thought that maybe something flickered in Isabelle's eyes, that maybe her grin grew a fraction. Like with Jace, though, it was possible that it had all happened inside of her mind. "Bring him along," Izzy suggested an obvious solution.

That could work. Simon wasn't a huge fan of random parties, but he would go if Clary asked. He usually did. "Okay," she replied with a nod. "That would be all right."

Isabelle flashed a brilliant grin. "Fantastic. Now, let's get started on your look. We have a long way to go."

"One sec," Clary told Isabelle, who was already retreating to her closet.

She picked up her cell phone and dialed the numbers she had memorized years ago. Simon answered on the second ring. "Clary? Don't tell me you're ditching me for your new bestest friend."

"No," she answered sort of guiltily. Had she really been neglecting Simon that much? It wasn't her fault that she and Isabelle had a project due soon. "But there are a change of plans."

She told him about the party and how Isabelle was practically making her go. Reluctantly, he agreed to go. Clary knew he would, but still she let out a breath of relief. She instructed him to meet her at Isabelle's room in two hours, then they hung up.

When Clary turned to go to Isabelle, her face smacked right into Jace's hard chest. "The rat's coming along?" he asked. His nose scrunched up and his golden brows furrowed as if he smelled something gross.

"Yes," Clary stated proudly. "Will that be a problem?"

"Of course not," he scowled. "Let's just hope he doesn't bring his rabies along."

An hour later, Isabelle spun Clary around so that she could admire her reflection, or as Isabelle liked to call it, "her art." And art it certainly was, though Clary was not sure if it was the good kind that made people _ooh_ and _ahh_, or the kind that made the viewers wonder what exactly it was that was going through the artist's head when they created their supposed masterpiece.

Izzy had applied a light ring of black liner under eyes, and countless coats of mascara on her lashes. Caked on her face was an assortment of different concealers—powder, liquid, the type that came in tubes like lipstick—so much so that she could hardly make out the freckles spattered across her nose. She was squeezed into one of Isabelle's old shirts that passed as a very tight, very skimpy dress on Clary. It was a metallic silver and glimmered each time Clary moved her hips. The neckline dipped into a deep v shape, accentuating breasts that Clary didn't really have. On her feet were red stilettos that could have staked a vampire. All together it appeared she had curves and a body to die for. It made her uncomfortable.

Her hair, though, was a whole other story. Isabelle had tugged and sprayed and twisted Clary's hair for so long, amounting to a dazzling result. Each strand was pinned precariously atop the crown of her head in a glamorous bun with glittering ruby pins that matched her shoes.

"I don't know what to say," she told Isabelle, uncertain.

Isabelle, however, cupped a hand over her mouth and her eyes glittered with pride. "Don't thank me now," she said. "Just wait until Jace gets a look at you."

A pink shade spread across Clary's cheeks, and she was glad Isabelle scampered away to ready herself before she could see the blush.

Looking in the mirror once more, she couldn't help but feel that something was missing. Her skin was bare. She wasn't really one for standing out or excessive accessories, but as she gazed at herself more, she realized just exactly what was missing. She scrawled a quick note for Isabelle telling her that she had to run to her dorm for a moment and that she would be back soon.

-#^#-

There was still an hour to go before the party. Jace didn't need nearly that much time to get ready. Ten minutes, tops. All he really had to do was throw on a pair of clean jeans and a shirt without tears or stains on it. Even with the minimum effort he would be able to reel in every girl at the party.

He didn't want every girl, though. He wanted Clarissa Fray, who hardly gave him the time of day. Jace suspected that she may have been coming around, but there was no way he was going to let his hoped rise. Clary hadn't exactly been the most predictable person in the past week.

Still, countless times he fought the urge to swipe away one of her ever-stray curls or get close enough to count the freckles on her face. He hated that his mind wouldn't let go of the challenge. Maybe, for once, he didn't want to hurt a girl. Maybe, for once, secretly, he cared more than he would ever admit to himself.

He immediately knocked the thought away. It was absolutely ridiculous. Clary was small and feisty and amusing and really pretty. But what difference did that make to him? If there was one thing his father had made clear to him, it was that things like that didn't matter. Either way, letting yourself care about somebody always got yourself hurt.

That was why he _only _wanted to kiss her, _only_ wanted to have fun with her and then dump her. It was the same old, of course.

It all made sense, but what was lost to even Jace himself is why his feet were moving towards Isabelle's room, why his body was carrying him towards where he knew that Clary was.

She wasn't there.

When Jace walked inside, he saw Isabelle rummaging fervently around her closet, but Clary was no where in sight. "Izzy?" he called out.

She popped up and turned around. "Jace! What are you doing here? You can't see Clary before it's time to meet up!"

Jace snorted. "We're not getting married, Isabelle. It's not bad luck if I see her in her dress. Besides, she's not even here."

Isabelle walked to the doorway of her large walk-in closet and put her hands on her hips. "What do you _mean_?" she asked sharply.

"I mean exactly what I said. She's not here. She probably went to go pick up that Lewis kid. Who the hell invited him anyways?"

"I did," Isabelle said, eyes widening. "Jace, is that jealousy I detect?"

"Jealousy?" He laughed.

"Yes." Isabelle nodded. "I can't believe it. The only time I've ever seen you jealous is when Alec gets the last piece of pizza before you."

"I'm not jealous," he scowled. "I just don't like Simon. He irritates me."

"Right. Have you ever had a conversation with him?"

"No, and I don't care to. Have you looked at him? He's got irritating written all over him."

"I don't think there is anything wrong with the way he looks." Isabelle scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe that the Jace Wayland I've known for, like, ever is jealous over a girl!"

Angrily, Jace turned around and headed for the door. Isabelle had clearly gone crazy. _Jealous_ wasn't even a word in Jace's vocabulary, unless, of course, he was referring to Simon's jealous gaze every time he saw Jace and Clary together.

"Jealous," he huffed and banged the door behind him.

-#^#-

Clary dug around her room; shoeboxes, under her bed, behind her dresser. Where was that necklace? She hardly ever wore it, most of the time she forgot she even had it. But now, she knew it would go perfectly with her outfit. It was a necklace that Jocelyn had given her when she was a baby. It was strange and nowhere near glamorous or beautiful, but it had always been hers.

Finally, as she checked her little closet, she pulled it out from behind her shoes. It was a tarnished silver ring and it had a letter engraved on it. Whether it was an _M_ or a _W_ she couldn't tell. Around that letter there were stars. It hung on a silver chain. Nothing fancy. She wasn't even sure what the letter meant or why it was so important to her mother that she would give it to Clary when she was so little, but somewhere deep inside of her, Clary knew that the necklace was special.

She slid it over her head and looked into the mirror. She was right, the necklace was the perfect addition that topped off her outfit. It rested right below and between her collarbones, drawing attention away from the deep neckline. She smiled at her reflection and headed back to Isabelle's room.

There was still more than a half hour left until they had to meet up with the guys and leave for the party, but Clary could feel herself growing more excited. She hadn't really been all that ecstatic when Isabelle told her about the party. But she was going with her group of friends and Jace would definitely love her in that dress—

_No!_ her mind scolded. It didn't matter what Jace thought of her. She was going to have fun and dance with random guys at the party. She wouldn't even give Jace the time of day, because really, he would probably be too occupied with the other girls. Despite what Isabelle said, Jace wasn't even going to give Clary a second look.

**Okay, so it's not really that long, but we get some insight on Jace's changing feelings **** Okay, review and tell me what you think. And sorry it took so long to update. School just ended and I had exams and blah! But I aced them all! Yay! Okay, review now!**


	7. Chasing the Night

**You guys are so awesome, you know. Thanks for all the terrific reviews! You know, at first I was thinking "Nobody is going to like my story. It sucks!" But the reviews you give me make me eager to continue it! So thanks!**

**Hope you enjoy. **

_Jealous.  
Jealous.  
Jealous._

The word rang repeatedly in Jace's mind, bouncing back and forth like a Newton's Cradle.

_Jealous._

He cringed. How could Isabelle even determine something like that? There was obviously a fine line between jealousy and agitation with another male. Jace hadn't crossed that line. In fact, the line was so far in front of him that he could hardly see it.

_Jealous. _

Like he would even have a _reason_ to be jealous. Right. Should he envy Simon's disturbingly rodent looks, or his geeky personality? The kid contained not even an ounce of charm in him, zero tact. He could not even tell Clary that he was practically drooling over her.

He was, put simply, pathetic. Jace would never desire to be anything like him, have any similar qualities.

He examined his smooth golden hair once more. Perfect. He grinned at himself, white and nearly flawless. Not even the chip in his front tooth reduced his looks. Now, it was time to make Clary believe the same thing.

-#^#-

Simon stood in front of Isabelle and Alec Lightwood's door. It was somewhere he never expected himself to be, and somewhere he never expected to be meeting up with Clary. He raised his fist and rapped three times on the door. It swung open to reveal a mind-blowing Isabelle. She wore a tight black dress, with her bust spilling over the top, and silver sequins decorating the neck line. Her long, dark hair hung freely and straight down to her hips. Simon thought she looked like some kind of night goddess.

"Simon!" she chirped. Unusually excited, Simon thought, considering they had only met a few times, and at school Isabelle had never once even acknowledged Simon. Looks like Clary's newfound association with them was working to Simon's advantage.

And then, he realized, it wasn't. Right behind him stood Jace Wayland with that cocky grin that so well characterized him.

"Jace!" Isabelle greeted, just as perkily. "I'm sure Clary will be glad to know you're here."

Jace's grin seemed to broaden, if only slightly, when Clary's name was spoken. That was odd. Were Clary and Jace going to this party as a sort of date? Simon considered it, but then decided that if that were the case, she would have at least told him.

Plus, his best friend was not stupid enough to fall for a guy like Jace Wayland.

Izzy pulled the door open wider, stepping to the side to let the two boys in. "Clary! Alec!" she called in a singsong voice. "Our guests have arrived!"

Simultaneously, two wooden doors flung open. Clary, walking with her eyes on the ground, stepped out of what was presumptuously Isabelle's room, and Alec came through the other. Simon took a moment to admire Clary—and immediately realized why she was staring at the ground. There were two reasons, both of which Simon knew, having been friends with Clary so long. The first was that the heels she was wearing held her so high, she gained at least four inches in height. She preferred her _flat_ Converse.

The second reason was more noticeable to Simon, because he was a man and he could not help where his mind wandered. Especially since it was _Clary. _The dress Isabelle had no doubt forced her in hugged her body tightly, giving her curves that she chose not to reveal. If Isabelle looked like a night goddess, Clary appeared to be the goddess of beauty. Clary, in that moment, was Aphrodite.

Simon could not help it, his eyes were glued to her. She must have been the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. He was sure that his face had a mixture of awe and wonderment, but even if Clary were to look up and see, she wouldn't understand. She hadn't understood for a while. All she saw was Simon: thick-rimmed glasses, ripped jeans, and the boy who loved to watch horrid anime shows.

Her best friend.

Standing there, looking so amazing, Clary would never realize that she was tearing at Simon's heart.

-#^#-

The first thing Jace noticed when Clary walked into the Ligvhtwoods' living room was that her hair was pinned up. The red mess that was always there was concealed, tamed. He hated it. He wanted to pull all of the clips out of her hair and brush all of the hairspray out.

Then Jace noticed what she was wearing and his heart must have stopped. Had anybody ever looked so…

He stopped his thoughts there. So she was in a fancy dress—one that he remembered being a _shirt_ on Isabelle, years ago—and some high shoes. It wasn't the first time a girl had worn anything like that in front of him. Izzy had been doing it for as long as he could remember, and he hardly even registered her.

Even so, his eyes continued to roam her features. The dress was snug in a wonderful way, and the color of her shoes brought out the flame color of her hair and the paleness of her skin.

Finally, she brought her head up, and instantly their eyes met and held. A shy smile was dancing on her lips and there was a slight blush creeping across her cheeks.

Jace cleared his throat and broke eye contact. "You look nice, Clary."

"You too."

Jace's eyes reluctantly flickered to Alec and Isabelle who were standing on the sidelines; Alec was watching the scene in confusion as Izzy grinned wildly, like she had just discovered an oil mine. His eyes narrowed at her, but she just winked at him and turned around. "Time to go," she called out, and headed towards the door.

-#^#-

Simon scowled. Jace was staring Clary down, clearly with admiration, like she was a shiny new toy. In his eyes, Simon figured, she was. He would play with her while she remained shiny and new, and then he would throw her under his bed when he lost interest. He had seen it done to half of the female population at The New York Academy of Art. But, he had to keep in mind, that Clary was smart; she wouldn't do that to herself.

He was smirking in a way that told Simon that Jace thought he was going to get lucky tonight, and Simon's scowl increased. Maybe, if he would have been paying attention to where he was walking rather than Clary as they made their way through the corridors of the school to get to the parking lot, he wouldn't have stepped in about three pieces of gum.

That, at least, was a small victory.

-#^#-

Izzy had really gone all out, Clary thought as she slid awkwardly into the rented limousine, trying not to hit anything with the ridiculously pointed shoes while also making sure not to flash any unwanted body parts to those behind her as the dress scrunched up.

Once they were all seated inside of the limo, Clary stared around at all the five-star accommodations. Flat screen television and a mini-bar…inside of a vehicle? "So, can you tell me how you pulled this off?"

"Pulled what off?" Izzy asked.

"Well, first of all, you got us exemption tickets out of the academy. And this limo!"

Izzy rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Clary, haven't you learned by now that I have the ability to pull some _major_ springs."

"This is incredible," Simon stated, in agreement with Clary.

"Jeeze, you guys act like you've never been in a limo before." Isabelle rolled her eyes.

Clary and Simon exchanged a look; they hadn't ever been in a limo, at least not one like that. It wasn't like Luke's librarian salary was enough to fund rides like that and still have food for the rest of the week.

The rest of the ride passed by in a comfortable silence, everybody consumed in their own thoughts. Simon, Clary knew, was thinking about the girls at the party, while Clary herself was wondering how the rest of the nights events would play out. As they rolled to the edge of an enormous house, with music booming out from all around it, Clary erased the thoughts from her mind.

It didn't matter. She was at a seemingly amazing party and she was going to enjoy herself. As they each piled eagerly out of their ride, Isabelle grasped Simon's wrist, and pulled him into the throng of the party.

Alec, who hadn't said a thing since Jace and Simon had arrived at his room, seemed to visibly brighten. Clary had never really taken Alec as the partying type, but then again, he had never really spoken much to her. His ripped pants and frayed sweaters, she noticed, had been exchanged for dark, crisp jeans and a white button up.

Someone approached from the front of the house and Alec grinned and darted up to him, leaving just Jace and Clary.

"I meant it," he said, voice low. "You do look _really _good tonight."

Clary couldn't help a triumphant smile to lighten her face. She shrugged her shoulders, like his compliment had no effect on her. She lifted a hand so that she could fiddle with her hair, a nervous habit, but dropped it when she remembered that it was all pinned up.

Jace must have noticed the movement, because he reached up and quickly pulled each pin out, then softly rustled her hair. "There," he said. "That's more like you."

He opened the gate that led to the backyard, where the most action of the party seemed to be taking place. He smirked. "Ladies first."

Clary walked in front of him, her heart beating wildly, into the mass of people dancing and drinking. Seconds later, he was by her side again, eyeing her carefully. Simon, Isabelle, and Alec were nowhere in sight and Clary felt something bubbling in her belly. Besides Jace, they were the only ones she knew at that party. Maybe she would be stuck with Jace after all.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked her.

Her eyes pivoted back to Jace. "Sure," she said, her voice a little scratchy. As he turned to what was apparently the bar, she watched. Jace Wayland really was beautiful. He walked gracefully and confidently, and he seemed to illuminate an entire room—or in this case, backyard. Other girls watched him walk as well, and, nervously, Clary wondered if he would even return at all with the drinks. She had told herself that she was going to be spending time with other guys, but, as he swaggered through the crowd, she realized that she had only been kidding herself. She wanted Jace's attention.

It may have been stupid on her part, but she did.

**OKIE DOKE FOLKS. Things are going to begin to heat up next chapter, I promiseeeeee! I gave you three POVs this chapter! Be grateful! I made this one longer than the last two, but it still isn't that lengthy. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Thanks to those who reviewed and added my story to their alerts and whatnot! **

**Review this chapter and tell me what you think. If you do, you may just get the next chapter quicker! **

**Oh. Annnnnnddd…..**

**DRUM ROLL PLEASE. **

**IT'S SUMMER! Therefore I will probably be updating more frequently! YAY!**


	8. Freak Out

**I love you all SO MUCH! Gosh, all of your reviews are great and each and every one of them makes me smile. I already feel like I have my own fans (: But, there is one person in specific who gave me the best review I have ever received and I would like to publicly express my gratitude to **_**Mel Melly Melt. **_**It was just totally awesome! **

**As promised, this is going to be the chapter where things begin to heat up. But first, I need to vent on a few things. **

**1) DID YOU SEE WHO WAS SELECTED TO PLAY JACE'S CHARACTER IN THE MOVIE? **

**I mean, I know that Cassie was saying he's great and all, but I just don't find the pleasure in looking at him. He better be drop dead freaking sexy during that movie, or else I'm going to crawl into a hole and cry for the rest of my life. **

**2) This is more a question than a ventilation of any sort. I'm writing a book. I know, big whoop, basically everybody on this website is. BLAH BLAH BLAH. I know, I'm nothing special. But….I need somebody who is willing to be a critique. That means that you would read it chapter by chapter and then after each you would give me ****productive**** feedback. More than "oh, this is great!" I need somebody who is willing to insult my work! Help me improve it! If you would like to do it, private message me. Thanks! **

**Now, on with the story.**

Clary gave up. She had been working to protect herself all night. She wouldn't let Jace step too close, or anybody else. She hadn't seen Simon, Isabelle, or Alec since they had left her in the beginning, and Jace's presence, while frustratingly persistent, was kind of nice.

He'd grab her hand and smile dazzlingly at her, and in his low, silky voice ask her to dance. Finally, after several wasted attempts, Clary nodded. She was sick of watching strangers laughing and enjoying themselves, because that was why Clary went to the party in the first place. There was no way that she could let herself get in the way of her good time.

As Jace led her slowly, tantalizingly, towards the center of the crowd to dance, Clary tried her best to swallow back the fluttering that had begun in her stomach. The further they traveled into the mob of people, the higher her nerves began to spike, sending a prickling sensation to spread across her entire body, like somebody was sticking pins in a voodoo doll of her.

Finally, with a swift and characteristically graceful movement, Jace swung Clary in, very little air separating them. Clary had always been well aware of her short—and Jace's tall—height, but standing that close to him, it struck her again. Clary could have easily laid her head on his chest, and Jace could have rested his chin on the top of her head.

She looked up at him. There was a real, genuine smile playing at the tips of his mouth, and something in Clary burst open, granting her a courage that she was grateful for. She brought her arms up and connected them around his neck as his hands found her waist.

She had reached the point of no return.

Then, she let the music sweep her up and guide her body. It was a bad idea, her mind told her. But, for once, Clary was willing to shut off her mind and just do something that she enjoyed.

And dancing with Jace was pretty difficult _not_ to enjoy.

Jace looked down at her, shock definitely rippling his features. Clary didn't care. She was just full of surprises tonight.

Their hips swung back and forth, side to side, moving in rhythms that Clary wasn't even aware she was capable of. Even more so, they moved in a synchronization that Clary had never expected from Jace. He clearly felt it too, Clary could tell, by the way that his hands gripped even tighter on her hips and how he brought his face down, only inches apart from hers.

_No thinking_, she told herself. But maybe the more important thing was _no feeling_, because even if she closed off her mind for that night, whatever happened between her and Jace would still be there the next morning. If they kissed, she would be replaying it over and over in her head, and Jace would have forgotten it by the time it was over. She wanted to kiss him; she could practically feel her lips gravitating towards his, but her heart wouldn't allow her.

His game wouldn't work for her, wouldn't cut it. She wasn't able to prevent herself from having real human emotions and just moving on after something happened. She couldn't play his cold game, and she wasn't really sure how he had mastered it so effortlessly.

Clary had never even kissed a guy, and there was no way she was going to let her first kiss be meaningless.

She pulled away.

And she walked away.

Away from the crowd, away from the music, and away from the gorgeous boy who had her mind jumbled and her emotions running wild.

-#^#-

What was Simon doing at this party? The whole reason he went was to spend time with Clary. He didn't even know where she was. Probably off with Jace somewhere.

Instead, Simon was sitting at a wooden bar with the whole beach shack appeal with a warm beer in his hand. Next to him was Isabelle Lightwood. Normally, he would be thrilled. He would be able to go back to the Academy and brag to his friends that he had hung out with her. Only, Izzy had accepted way too many shots of tequila from random guys that she didn't know and she was still throwing them back.

He stood to leave, not caring whether she noticed or not. Despite her drunkenness, Isabelle still moved incredibly quick as she snapped her hand out and grabbed Simon's arm. "Where are you going?" she slurred.

"I'm going to go find Clary," he told her, unsure. She may have been intoxicated beyond comprehension, but Isabelle was like a razor blade: sharp and dangerous no matter what state she was in. She could have easily thrown Simon down right then and there and turned him into her own personal human pretzel.

Thankfully, all she did was jut out her lower lip in a fashion that was very unlike the demanding and intense Isabelle he was used to, and tightened her grip on his arm. "No," she ordered. "She has Jace to keep her safe. I need someone to protect _me_."

Simon choked back laughter. "Izzy, I think you are perfectly capable of handling yourself."

"But what if one of those pigs over there tries to take advantage of me?"

"Then you can hit them." Simon refused to acknowledge that Isabelle would probably provide more damage to one of them than he would.

"Simon!" she whined, giving him a brisk shake. Then she slumped back on the stool she was sitting in. "I just want you to stay with me. Gosh, for someone like you that should be more of a privilege than a burden."

He sat back down. "Isabelle, you're drunk. If you were sober you wouldn't really want me around."

"That's not true! I was the one who told Clary to invite you. I always thought you—"

Simon didn't listen to the rest of what Isabelle was saying. He thought that the only reason he was there is because Clary wanted him along, because she missed hanging out with him. Now, he found out that it was only because of Isabelle. Warmth flooded through his blood, but it wasn't the good kind.

It was more like a searing, burning fire within him. He was mad and sad and disappointed. He was so many things that he couldn't even put into words. Had Isabelle's oscillating moods rubbed off on him? He had no reason to be so furious, but he was.

And it was all directed at Jace Wayland.

-#^#-

_This party is amazing, _Alec thought. In truth, the whole night was amazing. He sat beside Magnus on a red suede couch, feet propped on a matching ottoman. And while the rest of the world was outside getting drunk and dancing, Alec had his hand intertwined with Magnus's, clad, of course, in a multi-colored glittered glove.

Magnus looked over at him and smiled. "You must be pretty important," he said softly. "If I am inside of my house while my own party is occurring."

Alec was preparing to respond, the butterflies going wild in the pit of his stomach, when they heard a loud, piercing shriek from outside. The music fell away, and the crowd was silent.

The two boys sprung apart and dashed to the door.

**DUNNA DUNNA DUNNNAA. What do you guys think happened? The first person who guesses right will win a part in the story! **

**Review and tell me what you think! And don't forget to respond to what I put in the beginning author's note! I mean, only if you want to. **


	9. The Story Left Untold

**TRALALALA. REVIEWS=AWESOME! REVIEW**_**ERS**_**=AWESOMER! Hah, thank you guys so much for your kind words. I'm so pleased with positive feedback that this story is receiving. **

**For that reason, I'm trying my hardest to give you these chapters as quickly as I can, and as hard as I try to make them longer, sometimes there are just certain places I need to stop them. Plus, I don't want to cram a lot into one chapter, especially with the way I always mix up the POV's. **

**With that aside, I'm going to try to make this one longer than the previous ones have been, because I'm going out of town tomorrow for a few days with my friends. **

**Oh, and nobody actually guessed what the scream was about. In all honesty, I didn't expect you too, because when you find out you're going to be like WTF. **

**Enjoy!**

Alec raced through the still and silent crowd, pushing through bodies and following the direction that everybody's eyes had swiveled. He recognized that scream, would have known it anywhere.

When they were kids, Isabelle used that horrid sound to get what she wanted. But Isabelle didn't scream anymore. Alec was almost certain that she had no fears. In fact, his sister was practically the female version of Jace.

That was her scream, though. He was sure of it.

Alec moved quicker, feeling Magnus trailing behind him. As he moved closer to the center of the attention, Alec could see fear manipulating everyone's faces. Something inside of him turned cold, like ice cubes had been dropped into his bloodstream.

Still, he kept going. Seconds turned heavy, dragging slowly along, each one feeling like hours as Alec searched for his sister. Then, right before he reached an opening in the mass of people, he heard a word that stopped him dead in his tracks.

_Gun._

The word tumbled one by one through the crowd, being passed on like a game of telephone.

Magnus caught up behind him, setting a hand on Alec's shoulder for comfort. "Don't…"

Alec shook his boyfriend's hand away. Determination swelled within him, melting away the prickling ice that had taken over, and spilled onto his features, into his voice. "No," he nearly growled. "That's my sister."

Because as much as Isabelle infuriated him, exasperated him, drove him to insanity—she was still his sister, and there was no way in any dimension of Hell that he was going to let anything happen to her.

Gathering his courage and thinking back on all the combat lessons he had learned, Alec marched on. Some people were able to peel their eyes away from the scene in front of them in order to turn and stare at Alec: the foolish teenager rushing in to save the day. He didn't care, though. He hardly even noticed their doubtful expressions anymore.

He broke through the people and saw Isabelle. There was a guy standing behind her, a twisted smirk on his face as he seized her wrists behind her back and held a small, silver pistol up to her temple. Fury ripped through Alec as he watched this man—mid-thirties, maybe—bend his face down and kiss his sister's neck, taunting and repulsive.

Jace stood a few feet away from her, lips curled behind his teeth, fists balled tightly. He had taken a defensive crouch, as if he were preparing to strike at the man any moment. Then there was Simon, standing right beside Jace with a frozen shock on his face, in his body language. He didn't even look like he was breathing.

He stepped away from the people, separating himself from the rest, drawing the captor's eyes to him. The man was normal looking, with pale grey eyes and light brown hair, he could have easily had a friendly face, had he not been on the verge of shooting a random girl at a party.

Alec met those pale eyes straight on and their gazes locked. There it was, Alec thought, the evil. He could see it dancing subtly in his eyes, like the horror hadn't even begun to express itself yet. On the inside, Alec cringed, but he made sure to maintain the eye contact.

"You son of a bitch, you let her go," he snarled, taking another step forward.

-#^#-

Usually, Jace was the fierce one, ready to jump into suicidal fights whenever they came near him. That was why it surprised him that the one that mattered, the one with Isabelle's and several others' lives at stake, was the fight that Alec jumped in. Alec had always been the one watching Isabelle's and Jace's backs as they did something foolish or dangerous. He had never actually been the one to take the reins. While it was incredibly impressive, it was also stupid.

He should have just let Jace handle it.

Isabelle thrashed in the lunatic's grip, screaming shrilly and insistently. He pulled Isabelle backwards, arching her back, and brought his knee up, ramming it into her spine. A string of profanity from Isabelle followed. Jace suddenly hated this guy, more than almost anybody he had ever met. Almost as much as his father. A blind rage unraveled in his bones and ignited him, like the tiniest flame making contact with a puddle of gasoline.

Alec descended on the man slowly, growls nearly erupting from his chest. The captor's wicked expression contorted and increased, and his eyes narrowed as he watched Alec draw nearer. The hand holding the gun twitched, and that was when Jace made his move.

He sprung into the air, a blond blur of motion, eliciting a chorus of gasps by the surrounding people. The opportunity was perfect. The man had his attention on Alec, his back turned away from Jace, and he hadn't even noticed Jace's attack until the gun was knocked from his hand and their bodies were nailing the grassy ground.

The man grunted in a mixture of pain and anger and flung Jace off of him. "That was a mistake!"

"Really?" Jace spat. "I happened to think it was executed quite flawlessly." Then, he was on top of him again, fist flying towards the lunatic's face repeatedly, efficiently. The only audible sounds were the contact between Jace's knuckles and the man's bones, and the groan of agony from each connection.

The world fell away around Jace, and all he could think was that the man he was pummeling was only seconds away from doing something horrible to his family, and he needed to pay. Bones cracked sickeningly and blood flew and a terrifying smile wound its way around Jace's lips.

"Jace!" A familiar voice screamed. "Jace, oh god!" And then a choking sob.

Jace's head jerked up and his fist froze in mid-air. Only a few feet away from him stood Clary, barefoot and tear-streaked. In Jace's mind there was only white. White rage and fury, white hate, and white horror.

And then, there was red. Red curls whipping behind her in the wind. A red face filled with fear. Red shoes gripped tightly in her hands.

_Clary_.

The next thing Jace knew, there was a horrifying cracking and a buzzing pain in the side of his skull. The red began to fade, as did the white, transforming into black nothingness.

"Clary," was all he managed to whisper before he passed into darkness.

-#^#-

_Screams. Blood. Tears. Pain! Too much pain. Fear. _

_Horror._

Clary's eyes shot open and the fear and pain enveloped her once more. It was all just a haze of memories blurred together into one huge cloud of fog in her mind. Something awful had happened the night before, something that had leaded to her being bound to a chair in a cold, white room.

_Think_, Clary told herself. She just needed to think.

It felt like her whole body had been put into an incinerator, and she had barely made it out alive. Every inch of her hurt, every movement sent a sizzling wave of pain through her. She turned her head anyway, her breath catching with the pain, and there was Alec, unconscious and tied to a white hospital gurney.

They were not in a hospital, though. Clary knew that much.

A silver image flashed in her mind, flickering like a strobe light.

_A gun_.

With those two words, the memories from the night before flooded into her brain at rapid speed. She had been walking down the block, away from the party, trying to force her mind away from Jace, and she heard a scream. She remembered figuring that it was probably some drunken girl, and she made no big deal of it. But as she walked back and got closer to the house, something hit her: the music was no longer playing and the guests had fallen silent.

After that, the events were more like a flash in her mind. She hadn't even realized what was happening until she reached the chaos, until she saw Jace hitting and hitting and hitting. She was so frightened, so deathly scared for Jace. Then, she had distracted him and he had lost the fight.

She remembered running to him, hugging him tightly. Crying his name over and over until it was the only word she could form.

The rest was blank. Nothing. How she ended up in the unfamiliar room? Why was she chained?

She turned her neck the opposite direction. Isabelle was in a similar chair, bound just the way Clary was. And beyond her was Jace, battered and beyond bloody, cuffed to a stone wall. She could see his chest raising and falling, and even with the jarring situation they were in, she felt relief gurgle inside of her.

Jace was alive. They all were. At least, for now they were.

"Ah," said a low, gravelly voice from somewhere behind Clary. "So the little one wakes up first. Quite shocking, actually."

Clary squirmed, the metal chains tied around her rubbing painfully against her skin. "You're psycho!"

The man chuckled darkly, menacingly. "It's your fault, Little One."

"My fault?"

"Yes. I was content taking only my dark princess over there." The psycho stepped in front of Clary and jerked his head towards where Isabelle sat slumped in her seat. "But then you and your little friends had to come interfere. If you would have just minded your own business, you wouldn't be in this situation."

"Isabelle _is_ our business!" Clary snarled. Who was this man? He was clearly crazy, but what business did he have with Clary and her friends? And where was Simon?

"Isabelle," the man purred, making Clary want to retch. "I like that. It has a sort of exotic rhythm to it, don't you think?"

"I think that you're insane! Let me go!"

The man stepped closer to Clary and leaned in her face. His breath was warm and putrid, blowing in her face as he spoke. "I'm afraid that's out of the question. Though, if you're a good Little One, I may just let you live and serve me. However, that same fate does not apply to your two little heroes." His eyes darted from Jace to Alec, then back at Clary.

She spat. "I'd rather die than have to see you for even one more second."

"Clary…"

The voice was weak and scratchy and almost undistinguishable, but Clary recognized it. The man whirled around, a serrated blade suddenly gripped in his hand, like he had called it out of thin air. He took a step towards Jace, heavy black boots causing an echo to bounce off of the walls.

"How coincidental. The Golden Boy awakens. Well, now. I'm sure that won't last."

**Okay, so here is my lousy attempt at action. I know, horrible! I hadn't expected this whole idea to be so cheesy. I had it planned in my head, and I was like "Dude, that's epic!" but when I typed it all out it seemed so cheesy and laughable. **

**I don't even usually like kidnapping stories, but I figured I could probably pull it off. **

**EGH. Review and give me your opinions!**


	10. This One's A Cheap Shot

**So, I apologize for not updating sooner. I just moved again, and whatnot. But I now have a laptop, which means I'll be doing more writing. Unfortunately, my work is probably going toh ave a lot more typos because I no longer have Microsoft Word. Sorry. **

**And, on the topic of apologzing, I have yet another. I guess I've led you guys to believe that the fucking lunatic trying to kill everyone is somebody from the stories. He isn't. He's just a psycopath. I'm really sorry if that dissapoints you, but have no fear, there will be more about Valentine. **

**Without further ado, chapter ten!**

The man slowly walked towards Jace, his heavy footfalls echoing and bouncing around the room. Jace knew he should have been scared, and he was. Just not for his own life.

All he could think about were the others in the room with him. Clary. In the span of less than a week, she had proved to Jace that pure beauty did exist. Jace, for instance, believed that he was as beautiful as they came. On the outside. But there were countless unidentifiable things wrong with him on the inside. Before, he had always believed that with beauty came repercussions: hatred, stupidity, recklessness.

But Clary had shown him otherwise. She was beautiful inside and out. Quick to love and trust. Maybe in a way, that was its own form of stupidity, but it was a beautiful kind.

Then there was Isabelle and Alec, who had been the only family he had ever truly had. They showed him that caring for somebody was actually not supposed to be associated with bruises and hostility. Maryse and Robert were great, but they had always just been Maryse and Robert.

Alec and Isabelle were his brother and sister. No matter how many times he pissed them off, no matter what foolish acts he performed, they loved him and never gave up on him.

Now, he wasn't going to give up on them.

-#^#-

Gears were turning inside of Jace's head, Clary could tell by the calculating look in his golden eyes. He was clearly planning something. Something that was just going to make the situation worse for him.

Icy dread gripped Clary like an impervious vise.

The captor stood inches away from Jace, a manic grin stretched across his face as he raised the lethal blade. Clary wanted to scream or at least shut her eyes, but the only thing she was capable of doing was staring. Staring as the captor slowly brought the blade down. Stare as Jace grinned. Stare as blood was drawn.

**All right, please don't murder me for making this so incredibly short. The truth is, I'm having issues with the next part, and I figured that you guys would rather have this little tid bit than nothing at all. If I'm wrong then I am really sorry. **

**Review and tell me what you think. Criticism welcome ;D**


	11. Finish What You Started

**Hah, so people have been asking me (and begging me to not let this happen) if anyone dies. I will tell you, that yes, somebody dies. I'm not going to tell you who or why or when. You'll just have to read and figure it out. And yes, Simon will come back.**

**Once again, I would like to thank my lovely reviewers who put me in a good mood with their kind words. They also inspire me to continue to write. Plot-wise, this is the farthest I've ever made it into a story, but I promise you all that I will finish this unless something terrible happens. And let me tell you, I do not want anything terrible to happen. **

**Also there is an...informative (I don't want to say important, because it's only important to me) author's note at the bottom. **

**Chapter 11 :)**

The blade was slowly approaching his face, the dull tip pressed lightly against his flesh, right beneath his left eye. Jace continued to grin up at the crazy man.

_Bring it on_, he thought.

The captor slowly dragged his blade across the skin of Jace's cheek, a thin line of scarlet bubbled in its wake. A choking sob came from Clary, but Jace wasn't worried. The man wasn't about to kill him, not yet. Not after Jace nearly destroyed the man. He knew that he would have to endure punishment for that.

Plus, that was not a killing knife. It was hardly a step up from the knives that Jace used to cut his steak.

The guy lifted his weapon with a haughty cackle, then whirled around to face Clary. "Don't worry, Little One. I'm not going to end your boyfriend yet."

"Seriously Clary, your fingernails could do worse damage than that knife," Jace spat as his blood trickled over his lip and into his mouth. The wound didn't even hurt. Maybe, for about five seconds there was a sharp stinging, but Jace had recieved punches that were more painful.

Crazy Man circled the room, with the same indolent and taunting pace that he had been using since Jace woke up. Jace was not fooled, however, and he had to remember that this guy could move quickly if need be. The guy sheathed the serrated blade and quickly hid it under his shirt and the waistband of his pants.

Then, he bent down and out of his boot he drew another blade. Sharper, shinier, much more lethal. "You know a lot about knives, do you Golden Boy?"

He did. His father used to collect them, threaten him with them. There were very few that Jace had gotten to know personally, but he knew enough about them. "Gurkha," he said, nodding towards the knife that the man was now pressing to his chest fondly.

"Yes, Golden Boy. The Gurkha kukri. Let me give you and your girlfriend here a little history lesson." He approched Jace once more, and rested his unoccupied hand on Jace's shoulder. "The first, most essential thing to know about the Gurkha is that it is sheer tradition that it never be sheathed without first drawing blood."

Jace snorted. "So you intend to cut yourself, because I can assure you that the only blood that is going to be drawn from here on out is your own."

"That tongue of yours is about as sharp as this beauty here." His eyes flickered to the weapon, then back to Jace. He removed his hand from Jace's shoulder and began circling the room once more. "Luckily for me, the Gurkha has three efficient ways of killing."

"Stabbing, slashing, and throwing," Jace said.

"Correct." Crazy Guy stopped walking and eyed the entire room. "And I have three people to kill, then I get my precious _Isabelle_." His finger tip lightly traced the long curve of the blade. "And I wouldn't even have to put my wrist into it."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Jace noticed Clary wincing at the conversation. He wanted to soothe her, tell her not to worry, tell her that there was no way he was going to allow her to get hurt. He kept quiet and kept his eyes locked on their captor.

"Do you know what makes this blade special, Golden Boy? Besides the obvious of course."

Jace's jaw nearly dropped, wishing he had realized it sooner. "It's made of tungsten metal."

Then, just as quickly as Jace had attacked their captor, a plan began to unfold in his mind. Take shape with perfect clarity.

-#^#-

As Isabelle came back to conciousness, the details were disoriented in her mind. She remembered a middle-aged man hitting on her at Alec's friend's party, and she remembered turning away from him in disgust.

Suddenly, there was a gun and she was stuck in his strong grip, and she couldn't break free no matter how desperately she struggled. But what had occurred after that?

As her heavy lids eventually pried open and Isabelle quickly swept her surroundings, she knew that whatever it was was very far from being good.

Then she saw the guy that hit on her, and she froze. He had a _very_ dangerous looking knife in his grip and it was only inches away from Jace's face. There was fresh blood drippng over the dirt and dried blood that had already caked his face.

Isabelle's eyes hurriedly moved to her brother, resting unharmed, without even a bruise. She would have released a relieved sigh, but she knew that she needed to be silent.

Next, her eyes traveled to Clary, who was actually awake and staring at Jace and the captor with obvious horror. She, though, was also in mint condition. The only one who had taken a beating was Jace, which failed to surprise Isabelle.

But where was Simon? He had been at that party, hadn't he?

Jace caught Isabelle's gaze. Subtly he shook his head then blinked hard, his eyes remaining closed for only a second longer than normal. It was hardly distinguishable, and Isabelle knew what it meant.

She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, only listening to the exchange that began between Jace and the captor.

"You're on the top of my list, Golden Boy," snarled the captor. "Do you _know_ what it means to be at the top of my list?"

Isabelle could practically picture Jace's face in her mind. The slight shrug of his shoulders, a wry smile.

"I can imagine," he replied lightly, like he was in the midst of a conversation with Alec. "There's very few lists that I'm _not_ at the top of. Can you believe it? I like to think I'm quite charming." Then in a lower, much more serious tone he added, "But I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Not for long."

Her eyes flashed open as she heard the captor speedily slash down the blade, splitting the air with a light whistling noise.

**Sorry, it's not longer. Just gotta leave you hanging! **

**Anyways, as for the "informative" author's note. **

**I have added a new MI story. Hehehe. It takes place twenty years in the future with lots of familiar names. Here's an excerpt:**

_**Rip whirled around, but I stayed facing the open air, intent on not falling off of the peak. "Dude," he muttered quietly after a second. "It's that new freak from school."**_

_**Now, I did turn. Faber School rarely recieved new students, and when it did, the whole school made a huge spectical about it. With precisely three-hundred fifty-seven students in the combined elementary, middle, and high school, a new addition was always a big deal. Therefore, Rip knew just as well as I did that the girl's name was Tinsley Herondale, he just preferred to call her "that new freak." **_

_**She wasn't even really a freak. Rip just had an opposition to what he liked to call "wasted potential." Tinsley, in Rip's eyes, was exactly that. She had the same shiny golden hair that a lot of the cheerleaders at Faber had, but she always wore it tied back. And she wore a lot of black. It wasn't a creepy amount that made you think that in her spare time she listened to screeching music and wrote poems about blood. It was just black. Skinny jeans and v-necks and stiletto boots. **_

**I have posted the first chapter. The story is called Crucial Blood, and it is based a lot upon lineage, and of course romance. Go check it out and review. I know it doesn't seem that great, but if you trust in my writing abilities you'll go read it ;) **

**It has a really interesting plot line that I am keeping a secret! **

**In the meantime, tell me what you thought about this chapter!**


	12. Saying Goodbye

**So, I recieved quite a few questions on the last chapter. Believe me, everything will be explained in following chapters. **

**Except, somebody asked me why the captor wanted Isabelle, my answer was, "becase Isaballe is hot and he's a psycopath." We have to keep in mind that this story is ALL HUMAN, and while Jace and Alec and Isabelle may be capable of some amazing stuff, it's all within the the realms of a human's abilities. There are not always some convoluted ulterior motives behind human actions. **

**The guy was a psycopath, he wanted Isabelle. He tried taking her, and her friends would not let him. **

**Now that that is cleared up I would like to add that I'm very aware that many of the previous chapters have been short. I try to at least pack a punch into all of them! BUT I'm going to do my best to make this chapter longer and stronger, and full of wonderfullness, because all of my reviewers and readers are full of wonderfullness. **

**CHAPTER TWELVE: SAYING GOODBYE**

Getting enough leverage into the kick was difficult with both of Jace's hands and feet bound, to say the least. Jace had a lot of upper-body strength, and he had to use all of it to hoist himself up and direct his legs where they needed to go.

The captor was a damn fool, though, which resulted to success on Jace's part. Why he hadn't attached Jace's ankle cuffs to the stone wall was a mystery. Maybe his power drill had run out of batteries when he was installing his torture chamber.

Either way, as the Gurkha glided with flawless precision through the air, aimed directly at Jace's chest, his legs swung up and the chains met the knife precisely where Jace had intended.

-#^#-

The moments that followed were displayed in slow motion for Clary as she watched in a mixture of amazement and anticipation.

As Jace's chains collided with the frightening weapon, there was a deafening clash of metal to metal, mixed with a gasp from Izzy, who Clary had not even realized had waken up, and a heavy groan from Jace. An immeasurably short silence had fallen around them, afterwards, as Jace grinned triumphantly and the captor stood frozen.

The silence was interrupted by the clattering of the chain links against the linoleum floor, clinging one by one like a shower of iron.

-#^#-

Suddenly, Jace's legs were free, and they were sending an effortful blow towards the side of the captors head. As the connection was made, a twisted joy wrapped around Jace, only to be washed away by the daunting realization that he hadn't planned as thoroughly as he thought.

Because, as the captor hit the floor with a satisfying thump, a string of curses leaving his mouth, Jace wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do next. His legs were free, yes, but his arms were still restrained umcomfortably above his head, and his friends, who were each gaping at him in wonderment, were just as incapable as he was.

The captor, though, was currently unconcious, which enabled Jace time to think of something.

"What the hell?" asked Alec, who had apprently woken up when Jace had focused all of his attention on breaking the metal. It was a good thing, too. Jace was getting worried that he would never wake up.

"Tungsten metal," Jace explained. "Is the strongest metal available to man. It was also what that weapon was made of. Doesn't corrode, doesn't dull easily. Unfortunately, those chains were made of iron, which, in comparison to tungsten, is weak. And when you clash a strong metal and a weak metal, what happens?"

"The weak metal breaks," Clary gasped. "Jace, how do you know all of this?"

"Don't ask him that!" Isabelle warned. "He believes he knows all."

Jace smirked, but Isabelle was wrong. Jace didn't know all. He still had not discovered a way to get them all safely out of that mess.

A deep groaning came from the captor, and Jace delivered another powerful kick to the head. The captor's body went slack and Jace knew that he would be out longer this time. But looking at the captor, at his position, he couldn't help but Summon the dreadful memories that had been haunting him for six years.

It wasn't the time to be thinking about that, Jace reminded himself. But the memories would be there no matter how hard he tried to push them away. He just had to endure them, had to allow them engulf him once more so that he could be granted with the clarity he needed to get him and his friends out of there.

So he did.

_"So Johnathan," Valentine roared, his dark eyes as hard as diamonds. Jace was scared by few things, but his father was one of them. "You think it's funny to lie to me?" _

_Swallowing the large lump in his throat, Jace shook his head. "No, sir. I didn't like to you." _

_Valentine stepped closer to where Jace sat on the stained blue carpet, his top lip curled behind his teeth and he released an angry breath that reminded Jace eerily of the hiss of a snake. Jace's whole body locked in anticipation of the hit. _

_It had begun slowly, the beatings. Valentine would smack Jace around once or twice a month when Jace had done something worthy. He didn't mind then, he knew he deserved it. Then, they became more frequent, narrowing down to about once or twice a _week_. He used to try to stop it, beg his father not to hurt him. But Valentine had always told him it was for his own good, that if he didn't teach him the lessons out of love, somebody would eventually teach him out of hate. And as the beatings rapidly picked up to a daily basis, Jace was forced to accept that. It was all out of love. _

_But he remembered promising himself that day, as his father's fist neared him, that if this was what love was, he'd had enough. _

_To love is to destroy. To be loved is to be the one destroyed. _

Jace blinked hard, hoping that he could just make the memories go away. He couldn't think of what happened next, that was some place that he promised himself he would never go again. The actuality was horrible, the memory even worse.

-#^#-

The room was silent. The only thing that Clary could make out was the labored breathing of her friends and the even breathing of the unconcious captor. Truthfully, Clary didn't think anybody knew what to do next.

Not even Jace, who hadn't looked up or said a word since he knocked out the crazy guy.

She wished more than anything that, even just for a second, he would lift his head and meet her eyes. She needed to know that he was okay.

As if on cue, Jace's whole body tensed, and his head snapped up. "Do you hear that?" he asked in a whsper loud enough for everybody to hear.

Clary held her breath and strained her ears. It was hardly audible, but it was there. Somewhere, not very far, past the room they were in were hushed voices. A lot of them.

"People are coming," Isabelle stated, alarm igniting her features.

Something in Clary froze up. Were there more people? Had the crazy guy somehow signaled for back up? Panic arose in the back of her throat. Why had she decided to go to that party? She knew it was a bad idea. At least Simon was safe, or so she hoped.

"Pretend you're sleeping," Jace commanded in a hiss as the voices descended on them and the footsteps grew louder.

They all did as instructed.

Clary could hear a door knob jiggle, though she never remembered seeing a door, and a curse when the person realized it was locked. She couldn't help but let hope blossom in her belly. The captor probably hadn't anticipated being knocked out when he called for his people.

Then, the hope was immediately wiped clean as she heard a loud thud against the door and a strenuous grunt. Somebody was trying to break down the door. Another thud and Clary felt a lump rise in her throat. She had believed that she was terrified earlier, but this was awful. She didn't know who the people were or how many there were. Or what they were planning to do to her and her friends.

There was another arduous thud, and Clary heard the door give and the wood break and a victorious laugh from the intruder. This is it, Clary thought. They were all done for.

A heartbreakingly familiar voice cried her name, and Clary's heart may have stopped. She knew the voice just as well as she knew the person and her eyes flashed open as a tear escaped. She wasn't sure if it was a relieved tear, or one she was trying to hold back, or if she was just so happy to see her best friend in the doorway.

"Clary!" Simon called again and ran over to her. His hands ran over the iron chains and the metal chair that she was bound to. "Oh god, Clary."

Slowly, all of her friend opened their eyes, incredulity lining each of their faces.

"Simon?" Isabelle said, like she wasn't sure if her mind was playing a trick on her.

"Magnus!" exclaimed Alec.

"This is all a very touching reunion," sneered Jace, his golden eyes landing on Simon coldly. "But nobody knows when this guy is going to wake up."

"How did you manage to knock him out?" asked another familiar voice. Clary's gaze darted around the room, and through the broken door stepped Jocelyn and Luke, who was rubbing his shoulder with pursed lips.

"Mom! Luke! I knew Simon hadn't broken that door down."

They quickly examined her for injuries, and small relieved smiles tilted their lips when they noticed she was unharmed.

Luke's eyes swept the room and landed on the knife. He quickly walked over to it and picked it up. "Tungsten metal," he mused, and averted his attention to Jace. "Is this how you broke the ankle cuffs?" Jace nodded tersely and Luke looked impressed. "Intelligent kid."

He turned to the rest of them. "Simon, Jocelyn, Magnus, you guys get out that door right now. Clary and...I'm sorry, I don't know the rest of your names, but when I free you, run. Run fast and far."

Each of them made different noises of agreement, and Luke approached Clary. "No offense," he said to the others. "But she's going first."

Clary swore she heard a quiet "Thank god" from Jace, but she didn't want to overanalyze it.

Once her mother and Simon and Magnus were each out of the room, Luke raised the knife and offered her an encouraging smile. "Don't worry about anybody else in here," he whispered, knowing her well enough to know that if she could, Clary would stay and wait until everybody else was free. "Right now, all I care about is your safety."

The blade swooped down and busted her restraints, loudly, just like Jace's. She realized why she needed to run. No doubt, the noise would awaken the captor. As soon as each of her limbs were free, Clary tried to stand. Her legs felt like jello and her body was clearly weak. But she gained her balance and put all of her strength in racing to the door.

She hesitated for only a second, wishing her friends good luck, then siad good-bye to the horrible room.

**Okay, this is a lot longer then the last few chapters, and I really hope you like it. The next chapter you'll get to see Isabelle **_**kicking ass**_**, no joke. I hope this chapter answered some of your questions, like what tungsten is, for example. **

**And, of course, I had to add the "to love is to destroy" part. I know that's not how it happened, but I still thought it was pretty good. In the upcoming chapters you'll see more of what happened to Valentine, who, by the way, is actually dead in this story. **

**Plus, some fluff. Because I can not forget the fluff. **

**Review and tell me what you think.**

**AND DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE FIRST CHAPTER OF CRUCIAL BLOOD, MY OTHER MI STORY.**


	13. AUTHOR'S NOTE!

**Sorry everybody, this is not an update :/ **

**There is just something I need to throw out into the world of book-appreciating people, because I'm freaking out. **

**I just read The Hunger Games. **

**Understand why I'm freaking out? **

**I was extremely hesitant to read the book, despite all the WONDERFUL things I have heard about it. I checked it out from the library at least three times before actually reading it. I don't even know why. The plot seemed interesting enough. Ijust wouldn't read it. **

**Then, finally, I did. And I am COMPLETELY and TOTALLY blown away. For some reason, that book was an enormous tear-jerker for me. I'm not even kidding, I think I cried at least once ever chapter, beginning at the first. It was so strang because I have NEVER cried like that because of a book before. Yes, when I read New Moon, I might have cried for about two or three hours when Edwards left Bella (Sorry to all you TwiLovers out there, but I do not know WHAT I was thinking.) but I'm not sure any book has ever made me cry to insistently. It was like I would get done and then something else would happen and I would start crying. Even during the happy parts. **

**I think I felt a little OVERLY connected to Katniss. **

**And Peeta? HELL-FREAKING-O! He wasn't the bad boy like Jace Wayland or Adrian Ivashkov, but everything he said and did just absolutely took my breath away. Whether it was good or bad. **

**No joke, I think I was litterally heaving with sobs when I read that he joined with the Careers. **

**God, I'm just so...I don't even know. **

**I just had to put this all out there and tell somebody, and if I told people in real life they'd just be like WTF GIRLLLL. **

**I do have one regret about reading the book though. I wasn't sure I was going to like it so I didn't snatch the second and third book from the library, even though they were there, and now I'm going to have to wait until Monday. **

**Okay, if you read this far, god bless you. I hope you are a fan of The Hunger Games? Or maybe you totally hate it. I don't know, but I needed a place to rant and this seemed as good a place as any. Sorry if you thought it was an update. **

**But you see why I haven't updated? Totally caught up in the awesomeness of Suzanne Collins. **

**Oh! And I also finished Witch and Wizard by James Patterson. Ity was a surprisingly quick and good read. I recommend it!**

**That's all, I promise not to post again until an actual update, which I assure you I am working on. **

**-GabbiCalabrese**


	14. Until I Get Caught Red Handed

_"You don't do it for glory. You don't do it for appraisal. You don't do it for anybody or anything other than yourself, because in the end, Johnathan, you're the only person that matters." _

When Valentine had delivered that speech, Jace couldn't help wondering if it was supposed to be the motivational follow-your-heart kind of speech or a bitter who-cares-what-anybody-else-wants speech. Knowing his father, he would have easily placed money on the ladder. Whatever the intentions, it didn't replace the reality behind the words.

-#^#-

Clary pressed herself as close as she could get to the wall, wishing that she had the ability to fold herself into it. Or become invisible. Luke had told her to run, far and fast and just get out of there. Clary couldn't. She didn't.

Not only did she have no idea where to go-the house contained a series of mysterious corridors, and who knew where she would end up if she selected the wrong one?-but those were her _friends_ in there. What kind of person would she be if she ran away and didn't give their safety a second thought?

And how, she couldn't help but wonder, had Luke and her mother gotten involved? And that sparkly boy that Alec had called Magnus? How did Simon even _find_ them? How-

The sound of fast feet pounding against the linoleum silenced her rambling mind but did nothing for her racing heart. Clary held her breath and closed her eyes, hoping that whoever was escaping didn't see her and drag her away. As the footsteps receded, Clary quickly looked to see Isabelle heading towards one of the many hallways.

There was the loud collision of the knife against the metal again, then the comforting sound of the chains breaking and clattering against the floor. Clary assumed it was Alec next, knowing that Jace would want to be the last one out. She was right, but his footsteps were abruptly drowned out by an outraged roar that belonged to neither Luke nor Jace.

Clary swallowed and tried to keep her breathing even and her panic subdued. The captor was awake, and he was furious.

**Just a quick and short update. I owe all of you so much more than this, I'm sorry. But for the time being, this is all I got. **

**But does anybody have a clue what the "quote" from Valentine in the beginning could be about? Why that came to Jace's mind? There's obviously a reason he thought of it, and if anybody can guess it I'll give you a shout out or maybe a place in the story. **

**Review and tell me what you think. Hopefully I'll be able to give you a longer and better update tomorrow, but I doubt it. I'm going out of town for a few days. Then, after that I'm getting Catching Fire and Mockingjay. If I don't update tomorrow, the earliest I'll update is probably Tuesday. Sorry! But thanks for all the kind words and support of this story!**

**Oh, and I just finished Kiss of Life, by Daniel Waters. It's the sequel to Generation Dead. It was all right, I guess. Definitely nothing to go crazy about. **

**Okay, enough nonsense from me. Review! :)**


	15. Getting Out

**Hello everybody. I'm going to start off by saying that a semi-negative review is what inspired me to write this chapter long and packed with goodness. Funny, huh? I love all of your positive feedback, it makes me happy! But a little negativity is important to give me a nice kick in the but! **

**And to that reviewer, since you have your PM closed and I couldn't reply, I shall say that you are partially correct that these are just sort of fillers. But it's not really that I don't know what to write, it's more like I have other things to do. But yeah, I'll admit, my chapters have definitely been slacking a little. Thanks, though for being a trooper and sticking with me through it and giving me that kick in the but! :) This one's for you!**

**On to the next chapter! **

With a growl that seemed to emerge deep within his throat, the captor finally came to, wobbling slightly as he stood. Jace was surprised it had taken him so long, considering the boisterous and resonating racket that Luke was making in freeing everybody.

Speaking of. Jace's gaze slipped to Luke, who was frozen with the blade held above his head, ready to bust Jace free. It would be quick and simple, Jace thought. All he had to do was slice down and the captor was dead. But Jace knew that he wouldn't. His main concern was getting Clary out, then the rest of them.

Who was he to Clary, anyhow? Step-dad? She had never really mentioned him before, mainly just talking about Simon. Rat face. Now, however, was not the time to be bitter and distracted.

The captor glared ferociously at Jace, delivering his intended message loud and clear: _You're a dead man._ Then, he staggered back and took a second to check on his other victims.

Jace grinned at the horde of emotions that rattled across the lunatic's face. Shock. Confusion. Anger. Passing one by one by one.

"You know," Jace threw out casually. "For a crazy guy you have an awfully one-track mind."

He snarled but didn't comment back, slowly directing himself at Luke, who had lowered the knife to his side. He didn't appear scared, only cautious. As the man's back was turned to him, Jace tried communicating with Luke, telling him to just _do_ it. Kill him. But Luke wasn't even looking at Jace. He was staring at the captor, an intimidating snarl winding his lips.

Before Luke had the chance to make a move, though, somebody clammered in the doorway, side-tracking all three of them.

Jace noticed the familiar flash of red and he knew who it was immediately. Clary. She still had on her dress from the party, only it was dirty and torn. All the pins had fallen out of her hair and her red hair hung around her face, frizzed and mussed, and despite the situation Jace was in, he wanted to run his fingers through it.

Then it really occurred to him that Clary was standing right there. What was she _doing_? He wondered angrily. She should have been long gone by then, breathing in safe air.

Luke was the first to recover from the shock of seeing her and took the captor's momentary lapse in attention to dart towards Jace, knife outstretched. He quickly broke the chains, then rushed to Clary's side.

"How sweet," the captor spit. "Father comes to rescue daughter, then daughter comes back to rescue boyfriend."

Clary's green eyes narrowed and her hands went to her hips. Jace couldn't help seeing the humor in that action, the way she looked like a mother preparing to scold a litter of kittens. "This isn't my father, and Jace is not my boyfriend."

That was it? Those were going to be her parting words? Clever, Clary. Real clever.

"And you," she added, weaving extra venom into her words. "Are never going to see daylight again."

Jace took that as his signal. He lunged at the guy, arm wrapping tightly around his neck, cutting off his oxygen flow immediately. The captor sputtered, then flailed, attempting to deliver a blow to Jace with little luck. Proceeding the man's next couch came a splattering of blood and Jace realized how tightly he was gripping him.

Admittedly, Jace was wary. He had never been in a position like this before. He had taken place in his share of fights, but he had never come close to killing a man. Jace was only seconds away from killing the captor. Putting an end to this guys psychotic antics, saving the next group of teenagers he decided to kidnap.

As more ager began to quickly rise, Jace's muscles added more force to his chokehold and the slunk against him limply.

Clary and Luke were both staring at him, expressions unreadable.

"He's not dead," Jace told them as he felt the captor's rapid pulse throbbing against his arm.

"Who cares," Clary said, the fear in her voice nearly tangible. "Just drop him and let's get out of here."

Why had she even come back? She was so, so stubborn, Jace knew from the few days he had spent time with her. And she loved, easily and acutely. She would go to great lengths to protect those that she loved, or even mildly cared for. And she wouldn't leave until Jace did.

"Don't wait until he wakes up again," added Luke. Jace nodded and with little reluctance let the man slump to the floor at his feet. Not because of what Luke said, though.

_"You don't do it for glory. You don't do it for appraisal. You don't do it for anybody or anything other than yourself, because in the end, Johnathan, you're the only person that matters." _

Those were his father's words, and until that moment in Jace's life, those words had stuck near to him as he tried to make a particularly difficult decision.

But letting the guy go wasn't what he wanted. He didn't do it for himself. He did it for Clary.

-^#^-

"Where are Jace and Clary?" Isabelle asked again, pacing the grounds outside of the psycopaths torture chambers with purposeful steps. She looked up to see Alec, Simon, Clary's mom, and Alec's boyfriend all staring off into, blank features smoothing out the lines of their faces.

Nobody was going to answer her question, because nobody knew. Clary, Jace, and the other guy that had come with the rescue team hadn't returned yet. Clary was the first one out. She had probably taken a wrong turn somewhere and got lost. Still, it had been almost an hour since Alec was freed and there was no sign of any of them.

Worry was gnawing at Isabelle like a dog on a bone. Mostly for Jace, but Clary had become a friend so there was some there for her as well. Various scenarios shuddered through Isabelle's mind. She imagined the captor bringing all three of them to a painful death.

"I'm going in!" She declared befroe she even realized she had spoken.

Now, all of their eyes traveled to her. There was a whole lot of shock in each of them, but mostly just disapproval.

"Izzy, no," Alec said softly. "Jace can handle himself. I'm sure Luke can as well."

"What about Clary?"

Her brother considered this for a moment, then shook his head." There's no way Jace would ever allow anything to happen to her. You know that."

Before Isabelle had the chance to reply, Simon spoke up. "I doubt that. Clary doesn't mean anything to him. He was just going to make her another one of those _girls_ that give themselves to him and get their heart broken."

Alec and Isabelle exchange brief looks of amusement. "Whatever yuor guys' opinions, I'm going in."

Isabelle threw her head into the air, not taking even a moment to second guess or look back, as she marched into the torture chamber.

-#^#-

"Clary," he breathed as he stepped over the captor's body and strode over to her. His arms were quick to engulf her. "Clary."

Jace breathed her in, held her close, never wanting to let go.

She pulled away with a light flush spreading across her cheeks. Jace captured her face between his hands and looked into her eyes. Her breath caught at the intensity. "You are so stupid," he told her huskily, but he didn't say it like it was a bad thing.

He brought his face near to hers and as their lips were about to brish, Luke cleared his throat, reminding Jace of his presence.

Clary seemed dazed, remaining completely still the whole time. Jace ha dbeen known to do that to girls. He smirked and dropped his hands, then turned to Luke.

"Let's get out of here," he said. Luke nodded and they each filed out of the door, Clary followed by Jace and Luke.

**So, I was going to include a whole other action scene in this chapter, and it was going to be epic, with Isabelle kicking ass and whatnot. But then I realized that this chapter would REAALLY long if I did. So that will just be in the next chapter. **

**Do I see a romance kindling between Jace and Clary? I tink so. **

**Review and tell me what you think. It wasn't as action-packed as I had anticipated, but it's still got some action, some almost-fluff, and that's more than I've been giving you lately. **

**Now, review and I'll go finish Mockingjay. **


	16. Fall Apart

**Okay, so I was reading the last few chapters that I wrote and I had two thoughts. 1: I've seriously been slacking in my writing. I have a lot of other wiriting proojects going on right now, so I haven't really devoted all of my creativity towards it. I'll try to do better. 2: Jace kind of seems like a psychopath :0 Am I the only one who thinks that? **

**Sorry for not updating sooner. Enjoy this chapter. **

It was difficult for Clary to feel particularly celebratory as they navigated through the creepy house of torture. Jace hadn't killed the guy, and that may have been what Clary asked, but she wanted to get out of that place _fast_. That was kind of difficult, though, when Jace was injured and Luke was exhausted and Clary was not exactly prepared to hold up the group.

She had so many questions. Where had Simon come from? And how did he rally up Luke and Jocelyn. There must have been some simple solution that she was overlooking. Her mind was not especially crystal clear in that moment. She just wanted to get out of there.

So, she marched on. Hallway after hallway. Flight after flight of stairs. The place was like a mansion! It felt like she suspected most mansions did: hollow, cold, eerie. But this place was even worse. It was like a horror movie. The walls were bare, the hallway reverberated every noise, and the overhead lights flickered.

Clary tried to focus on the task at hand, but she couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to one itsy-bitsy little thing. Jace. The way he looked into her eyes and how he almost kissed her. Her heart accelerated just thinking about it, which it shouldn't have. How many times had she told herself that Jace was no good for her, that she would only get hurt? But the way he looked at her. In that moment she felt like there had never been another girl in his life, like Clary had known him forever. It was stupid, she knew, because that was what he wanted her to feel. Clary could put money on the assumption that he had used that exact look on all of his previous play mates. Lure them into his trap and then kick them aside like a deflated soccer ball.

Suddenly, a line from a Lady Antebellum song rang throughout her head.

_Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all._

She had always thought that line was so true, even though she had never really been hurt before. She had never really had a boyfriend before. Now, she wasn't sure.

"Clary!" Jace hissed from behind her. She had a feeling it wasn't the first time he had said her name. She stopped walking. Footsteps. But they were coming from in front of the trio, not behind. Had they gone in a complete circle? Clary had been so trapped inside of her own mind that she hadn't really been paying much attention to where she was leading them. Surely, though, Jace and Luke were watching where they were going. They may not have been able to physically move quickly, but their minds were capable enough.

"Clary, get behind us!" demanded Luke, his voice was stiff and rigid. Were they ever going to get out of that place. She had been sure that they were all going to make it out alive, but maybe not. Perhaps that was just too lucky. Because who really got that lucky in a situation like this?

Clary moved behind the two boys, feeling a little foolish. She wasn't entirely helpless. Against knives and guns and whatever other weapons the captor had, however, she wasn't so sure. But what made Luke and Jace any more suited to deal with that stuff than her? Their Y chromosomes?

Arguing was not going to help them out any, no matter how badly she wanted to.

The three of them stood in the middle of the corridor, bodies straightened in anticipation. The footsteps were quick and light, a lot lighter than the captor's had been, and kept pausig momentarily. They should have been finding a spot to hide or something, but Clary knew that wasn't going to happen. If it was the captor, they were just going to finish him off. He had been given enough chances.

Then the footsteps rounded the corner. The shoddy light prevented them from seeing features and details, but it was obvious that the source was not the captor. The figure was oddly feminine. Jace's posture visibly relaxed.

"Jace? Clary?" It was Isabelle. She scampered over to them, relief swallowing her face. "I was so worried about you guys. Oh God. I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah, me too," muttered Jace.

"We need to get the hell out of here," Isabelle said.

"Gee, Izzy. I wish I would have thought of that."

-#^#-

Isabelle figured that Jace's sarcasm was a good sign, meant he was okay. Then again, even on his death bed he would probably have some sort of smartass remark to make. Still, he didn't look any more injured than he had when she left him. And neither Clary nor Luke were hurt.

"Did you guys kill him?" she asked.

"No," said Jace, something that Izzy couldn't quite recognize tinting his tone. "We just wanted to get the hell out of there."

"Then why are we standing around? Let's go."

There was a deep and throaty chuckle from behind the group. "Sorry to break this to you, princess, but you guys aren't going anywhere."

Jace and Luke simultaneously whirled around, pushing Clary behind them. Isabelle stepped beside them and narrowed her eyes at the psychopath. He was bloody and bruised, just as much as Jace was. It was satisfying. Luke eyed her warily for a moment, then turned his attention back to the captor. He didn't realize what Isabelle was capable of.

"Not you again," Jace groaned. "You're a very sore loser."

"I haven't lost anything," the man growled. "The games are just beginning."

"Yeah," scoffed Izzy. "Because I'm sure getting your ass kicked by a group of teenagers was all part of your plan."

"Sweetheart, the only thing you've done is stand there and look pretty."

"Not for long," she muttered under her breath. She darted over to the lunatic, he whipped out his hand to knock her away, but Isabelle was quicker. Before he even had the chance to react, Isabelle had fished her miniature bottle of pepper spray from her bra and spritzed hom right on the bridge of his nose like she was taught. The spray seeped into both of his eye sockets.

He shrieked and rubbed at his eyes as Isabelle flounced behind him and kicked at the back of his left leg. His knee gave out and he went crumbling to the floor.

Isabelle spared a quick look at Jace. He wanted to interfere so badly, wanted to jump in and turn the guy into pulp. But his eyes met Izzy's and she knew that he understood. She had to do this. It was technically her fault that they all got into the ordeal. He had captured her, targeted _her_. She had to end it.

"You've got zest," rasped the captor. "I like it."

"Shut up," Isabelle snarled, delivering a kick to his side.

He grunted and coughed. "We could be so happy."

"I said shut up!" she shouted and brought her elbow roughly down to the back of his head. Suddenly, Jace and Luke and Clary no longer existed. They may have been watching, they may have tried to escape. Izzy didn't care. All she saw was this evil man and the red haze that clouded her vision. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She rammed her knee into his spine, the same thing he had done to her at the party.

She could smell the blood, like rust and salt. _Good_, she thought with another kick to his side. She thought she heard something crack. It may have been his ribcage, may have been wishful thinking on her part. He fell onto his back, wheezing in pain. She rested her right foot lightly on his throat. He swallowed and she felt his Adam's apple bob up and down.

He was looking up at her, grey eyes pleading. Izzy almost told him to beg, but she decided against it and added pressure to his throat. "You want zest?" she said ruefully. "I'll give you your goddamn zest!"

And then she put all of her weight on to her right foot and watched the color drain from his face. He sputtered a few times, blood spewing from his mouth like a volcano. It landed on Isabelle's leg, but she didn't even notice. Her eyes were alight and her heart was thumping in her ears. The captor's eyes rolled into the back of his head as the struggle in him evaporated.

He was dead. Isabelle Lightwood had just killed someone.

The realization snapped inside of her and she choked out a sob. "I just killed a person." Her voice was small, like a child's.

"He was not a person," said Clary soothingly. "He was a monster who was going to kill all of us. If you didn't stop him he would have done this to more people."

A pair of hands lightly wrapped around Isabelle's wrist, and Jace slowly led her away from the corpse. "Izzy it's okay," he whispered over and over.

It was okay, Isabelle knew that. Killing him was completely justifiable. She just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she was the one who did it. She killed him. She caused his heart to stop beating. She took his life away.

Was it justifiable?

**There you go! I hope you liked it. DUDE'S FINALLY DEAD. About time, right? But don't you think this is the end of the story. Nuh uh, there are still many unresolved issues. Review and tell me what you think. **

**Isabelle is a fucking beast. :)**


	17. A Story To Tell Your Friends

**Hello, loves! Long time no update! :O I would love to say that I have had an extraordinarily busy schedule and that was the reason that I have let you go so long without a chapter. But that would be lying. I've honestly just been working on my own book-tightening the plot, stabalizing the characters, discovering issues in my writing that I had never known before. And so far, I'm proud of the work I've done for it. Other than that I've been READING READING READING! Lots of great books, and I've sort of developed a fascination for author blogs. **

**Okay, I'm done rambling. Almost. **

**It's been a while since I included one of these: **

**DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT CASSANDRA CLARE. UNFORTUNATELY MY NAME IS NOT LISTED ANYWHERE IN THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS BOOKS OR THE INFERNAL DEVICES, AND THEREFORE I HAVE NO REAL TIE WITH THESE CHARACTERS WHATSOEVER. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM (BESIDES THE CRAZY PSYCHO) BELONGS TO CASSANDRA, AMD THERE IS NOTHING I WILL EVER BE ABLE TO DO ABOUT THAT :/**

**ENJOY!**

Clary welcomed the sunshine, welcomed the New York air-sludge, even welcomed the distant honking and screeching of traffic. They had only been trapped for a few hours, but being locked inside of a dark and dank castle felt like days. Weeks, even.

And, despite everything that she had just witnessed, she couldn't help the huge grin that stretched across her lips. She and her friends were free, safe, and definitely confused.

"How'd you find us?" she asked Simon, taking a seat next to him on a cement curb. He looked exhausted, Clary thought. He had shadows under his eyes and his skin was even paler than usual.

"I followed," he replied cooly, like what he had done was no big deal. Clary sat in silence, waiting for him to elaborate. He sat still for a long time, his eyelids slightly drooping, not making a single sound. Then, finally, "He had a gun. And he had Isabelle. She was drunk and barely concious, so she hadn't offerred much of a fight. Everybody at the party was frightened and worried. The guy held a gun up to Isabelle's head and said if anybody moved, he would shoot her."

He swallowed and shivered a little. His eyes took on a far away look, like he was back at the party, reliving the situation. Clary realized that even though Simon hadn't experienced what she, Jace, Izzy, and Alec had, what he faced had been just as bad. She rested her head on his bony shoulder as he continued. "I was scared to death. But not for me, Clary. He-I'm not really sure what he did to you guys. Maybe he drugged you, maybe he did something else. But all I knew was that one minute you were sobbing, clutching Jace to you, and the next you were slumped beside him."

Here was the boy that Clary had known her whole life-watched anime with, discussed horrible band names with-but she had never once seen him so torn up. It was obvious on the inside and out that he was hurt. Not physically damaged like Jace, but emotionally. He had watched his friends get kidnapped and he had felt completely hopeless. Clary wished that she could do something to comfort him, but the worse had already been done and conquered. Simon had come through for Clary and their friends and the only thing that was going to make him feel any better was time.

"You didn't call the cops?" somebody asked from behind the pair. Clary turned to see Isabelle, still looking magnificently gorgeous. She was still wearing the dress from the party, and Clary wondered how she had manged to fight in it. Isabelle's mouth was turned down into a grim expression, seemingly stricken from the experience as well. After all, she had been the one that killed the lunatic.

Simon burried his face in his slim white hands and his words came out muffled. "I didn't know what to do! Not only would the cops have taken too long, but if they did catch up to the crazy dude, he would have noticed. He would have killed one of you guys!"

"It doesn't matter," Clary said firmly, trying to let Isabelle know not to make him feel any worse. "We're safe now. And a lot of that is because of you, Simon." She turned and nodded at Isabelle. "And you."

"I believe some credit goes to me."

Even scratchy and pained, Clary would know that voice anywhere. The unmistakable arrogance was, well, unmistakable. Clary turned all the way around now, and watched as Jace leaned against a lamp post. Luke and Jocelyn were both talking on the phone, presumably to the police, and making arrangements for another car to come. There wasn't enough room in Luke's truck for all of them.

Until then, they were stuck in front lawn of the horrid mansion.

"Yes," Clary told him. "You do deserve some credit."

She had been trying really hard not to think of that moment between them inside of the mansion. Clary almost wondered if she imagined it. But she hadn't. There was no way. And she was trying even harder not to wonder what her feelings were towards Jace. She had done so well in convincing herself that he meant nothing to her, that he was just another jerk who was conducting a game that Clary did not want to play.

Now she wondered if she had ever really thought that.

Before there was time for any more words to be exchanged, Jocelyn flipped her cell phone shut and started towards the group. Alec and Magnus, who had been sitting on the doorstep, noticed and immediately hopped up and followed. Jocelyn had that serious look on her face that Clary rarely saw that made it perfectly clear that she was about to deliver instructions.

"Okay," she announced once she had everybody's attention. She didn't sound scared or on the verge of breaking like Clary would have expected, but rather strong and in control. "I'm going to take Luke's car and drive Jace to the hospital. He's got several wounds and he's caked in so much blood that I can't even see his skin. Luke is going to stay with you guys and wait for the police to arrive."

Each of the teenagers nodded in acknowledgment and Jace began to protest, claiming that he was _fine_, that most of the blood did not even belong to him, that there was _absolutely_ no need to take him to the hospital. Jocelyn would have none of that. She fixed him with one withering glare and his mouth shut abruptly, he quickly followed her to Luke's truck.

There was silence between the kids as the engine roared and howled and the truck took off down the road. Nobody talked until it was completely out of sight.

"So, who is this Luke guy?" Izzy whispered, not unkindly.

"It's my mom's oldest friend," Clary answered. "He's practically my father."

"But they're not, um, you know?"

Clary sputtered a laugh and shook her head. "No, but I suspect that one of them might want to."

"I suspect both of them might want to," Simon muttered and Clary was so glad to hear him making jokes like his old self that she didn't even bother to elbow him in the side. "You know, I didn't even call Luke. I was just as surprised as you guys were when he showed up."

"What do you mean?" asked Alec, who hadn't said much to anyone other than Magnus since everyone escaped.

Simon took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them he explained, "After the asshole placed you all in the back of a silver mini-van, I watched his car head down the road. I knew that it was a long street that didn't have any turns for a while, and I knew a shortcut to get to the end. Without thinking, I ran. It was the fastest and the hardest that I had ever run in my entire life, and by the end I was so out of breath that I didn't notice Magnus come up behind me."

Magnus snickered. "You should have seen the kid. I would have laughed at him had I not been so frightened for my Alexander."

A slight flush spread up Alec's cheeks and he kept his head tilted towards the ground.

"Anyway," said Simon. "I hid in a bush at the intersection and waited to see the silver van. I called Jocelyn and told her that you were in some deep shit, and as Magnus and I stealthily followed the van, I told her where to go."

"I told him that we should wait for Jocelyn to arrive before busting down the doors," said Magnus. "And then she pulls up in the passenger's seat of Luke's car."

This time, Simon let out a strangled chuckle. "I was relieved, really. I didn't know how useful two teenagers and Jocelyn would be. Don't get me wrong, the power of a mother's love is strong, but I just couldn't see her kicking down the doors and anything else that got in her way."

The entire group chuckled at the image.

"Luke was so worried about you, Clary. He didn't even hesitate before breaking down the front door and and three more after that."

Clary smiled. Everybody else had only known Luke for about a half hour, but Clary and Simon had known him their whole lives. He owned a book store, for crying out loud. Neither of them had ever really seen such a fierce side of him and Clary was filled with a sense of pride that he cared that much for her. "Thank you Simon. Magnus. You were both very brave to have followed. And Isabelle, what you did-"

Izzy shook her head, her long dark hair swaying along. "Anybody could have done what I did."

"Doesn't matter. It was still brave and wonderful." Clary wondered if she, in fact, could have done such a thing.

Simon grabbed Clary's hand, probably reading her mind, and gave it a comforting squeeze. She was so glad that nothing fatal had happened to any of her friends. She hadn't known any of them as long as she had known Simon, but the idea of something happening to any of them, even Magnus whom she had only just learned his name, was a thought too painful for dwelling.

They were all alive and that was what mattered.

**HOLY FRICK ON A STICK! This was probably the easiest chapter I have ever written. In all of my fanfiction life. It took me about an hour. The words just flew at me, so fast that my fingers could hardly keep up. Shows what plotting can do for a person. Which, by the way, is one thing I've REALLY been working on lately. **

**I know this chapter is kind of boring, but I'm really hoping it answered some questions. **

**I also think that this is the first chapter of this story that I haven't switched POVs. I didn't feel like anybody else's POV would have been fitting. The next chapter, I'm hoping, is going to be some big reveal of feelings. But things so rarely go as I plan in stories. **

**Review and tell me what you think!**


	18. Girl Like That

**Thanks for the awesome reviews: **_**sarahserenity6296; xmalexfanx; OMGimagleek; buddiebaby; GoddessIncarnet; purple halo; Bookninja15.**_

**You guys are awesome. As are the people that added this story to their story alerts/favorite stories and everything else. **

Jace wasn't even Jocelyn's son and she was fussing over his injuries like he was on the brink of death. Really, he was fine. Not like he had never recieved a few bruises and cuts before.

"Do you want to turn on the T.V?" Jocelyn asked. Her eyes were wide with concern and Jace had to admit it felt kind of nice. He wasn't used to adults worrying about him and caring for his well-being. Maryse and Robert were nice and he was grateful for them taking him in, but they dumped him at the Academy to be raised. But watching Jocelyn bustle around his small hospital room, he realized that wasn't the case with Clary. She was at the Academy because she wanted to be, not because her mother didn't have the time to look after her properly.

Speaking of Clary. Jace was shocked to find himself missing her. He wanted to be there to comfort her, not that she really needed it. Clary was handling everything so well. She wasn't like most girls, running away screaming the first chance she got. After they escaped that torture room Clary immediately took the lead instead of leaning on Jace and sobbing.

It was actually admirable. And Jace hated that. He didn't want to admire Clary. Not her personality or the way a peice of her hair was always hanging in her face. She was small and fiesty and absolutely beautiful.

It was wrong. Every part of it. Jace wasn't supposed to feel this way about anybody. His father had demonstrated the kind of trouble that getting connected could provoke.

But Clary wasn't his father. She was gentle and caring and kind. And she had come back for him. She should have ran, gone to freedom, but she hadn't, and that was what saved him. If it wasn't for Clary then the odds of him breathing at that moment were very slim.

She had come back for him.

-^#^-

By the time that the police finally arrived, Clary had let the exhaustion seep into her bones and her mind. She was laying on the sidewalk with her head and Simon's lap as he gently ran his fingers through her tangled hair. Her eyelids were slowly drooping when she heard the tires against the pavement.

A tall, slender woman with dark brown hair and pale gray eyes emerged from the drivers' side of the car and a middle-aged man with a receding hair line stepped from the opposite side of the car. It had taken them nearly twenty minutes to get to the house, and Clary wondered if it was because they were far away or because Simon had been right and the police were in no hurry.

Luke hopped up from where he was sitting with his elbows propped on his knees in the grass. He looked really worn out, Clary noticed. She figured they would all be grateful when they had a nice meal and a warm bed to crawl into.

She let Luke handle the cops for a while and closed her eyes. Simon continued to stroke her hair and after a few minutes she felt herself dozing off.

"Simon," she mumbled drowsily.

His hands paused for a fraction of a second, but then continued when he softly said, "Yeah?"

"You were really brave today. Thank you."

"I wasn't brave. I was scared out of my mind. But I wasn't going to let anything happen to you. I'll never let anything happen to you."

A smile tilted Clary's lips and before she had time to say anything, Simon leaned down and lightly placed a kiss to them. Shocked, her eyes flew open, but she didn't push him away. When he brought his head back up, he swiped a peice of hair off of her forehead and smiled.

"Where'd that come from?" Clary asked, still not sure what had just happened. Did Simon really just kiss her? He was full fo surprises today.

"Could you really not tell?" he asked. His voice was deeper than usual.

"Tell what? I thought you liked Isabelle and-"

"Excuse me, kids." A voice cut her off. Both her and Simon were so wrapped up in their conversation, in what just happened, that they didn't even hear somebody approach them.

Clary looked up to see the male cop smiling down at her apologetically. She sat up slowly, her hand resting atop of Simon's, letting him know that they would return to that conversation later.

"Miss," said the cop looking at Clary. "From what I understand, you were the first of the group to regain conciousness. Am I correct?"

Clary nodded, the captor's words ringing through her head. _So the little one wakes up first. Quite shocking, actually. _"Yeah."

"All right then. I'll take your statement first. Would you like to tell me what happened after you woke up?"

All of the details were a bit fuzzy for Clary. She was so frightened that all she cared about was getting out of the damn place. But then there was Jace's voice and then the captor moved to him and her fear incresed to extreme levels. She thought the crazy guy was going to kill Jace, but he didn't. He was going to toy with Jace, but he didn't have much time to do that either.

"I think she's in shock," Simon said after she didn't answer for a while.

Clary shook her head and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "No, no," she said. "I just-I want to see Jace first."

Simon's hand tensed below Clary's. After the kiss that they just shared she almost felt guilty for the request. But Jace was hurt and he would be able to help her recall what happened and she just really wnated to see him for other reasons she couldn't quite explain.

"Jace?" the officer asked. "Is he here?"

"No, my mom took him to the hospital."

The officer seemed to consider that. He rubbed his hand against his jawline and nodded to himself. "Okay," he said finally. "Okay, I'll talk to everyone else and then I'll take you to the hospital to see this Jace kid."

"Thank you."

-^#^-

Why did Clary want to see Jace? Simon wondered bitterly. He just kissed her, for Christ's sake. Shouldn't her mind have been more consumed by Simon than Jace? Unless Clary didn't like Simon like that. It was possible, he knew, that she still only saw him as a friend. But she had kissed him back, so he clung to that little shred of hope.

The police marched over to Alec and Magnus and Simon turned to find Clary staring at him. Her green eyes were wide and searching for something. What, exactly? Forgiveness? She hadn't done anything wrong. If she liked Jace, so be it. Simon would deal with it. They would continue to be best friends and then they would forget that anyhting ever happened.

But then Clary grinned at him, and something in Simon's stomach did a backflip. The hand that was resting under Clary's flipped over so that it was palm up and he entwined his fingers with hers.

**Three POVS. Boy, am I nice. This was just one of those happy in-between chapters that give the characters a break from the impending doom or whatever. Tell me what you think :D **

**Bright spot of my day: Buying a jar of Nutella!  
What's on my mind: All the books I got from the library today :)  
Currently listening to: Better Off by Ashlee Simpson.  
Currently Reading: **_**Demonglass**_** by Rachel Hawkins. (EEP! IT IS SO GOOD! I ADVISE IT .AFTER READING THE FIRST IN THE SERIES, OF COURSE, **_**HEX HALL**_**.)**


	19. No One But You

**Why hello lovelies. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and added to favorite stories/authors and alerts and all that awesome chizz. Gess what. Thos story has over 200 reviews! Do you guys realize how happy that makes me? I didn't even expect 100, let alone TWO! I wish there was some special way for me to repay all of you guys, but I honestly don't know anything. If you guys have any ideas, feel free to tell me. I'm so grateful :)**

**So, without further preamble...**

"Mr. Lightwood, you have some visitors."

Slowly, Jace sat up in the hospital bed and glanced at the nurse in the doorway. She was young, kind of pretty, and eyeing Jace like she was a hungry wolf and he was the only prey in a hundred mile radius. Delightful, Jace thought. Absolutely delightful.

He flashed her a wide grin. "Send them in." Where else was he going to send them, to the dungeon? He got the feeling that the girl just wanted to hear him talk. After a moment's hesitation she nodded, then turned and scampered down the sickeningly white hospital corridor.

Jace hated hospitals. Especially this one. It smelled like artifical chemicals and he could feel the grim sensation of death and sickness crawling across his bones. His room was small and cramped, with room for little more than his lumpy bed and a sink. The room made him feel trapped. Jace glanced at the only door and the single window on his left. He remembered an old latino nurse gripping his arm and dragging him into an elevator but he wasn't sure how high they went. If he had to jump he could probably handle one or two stories without breaking anything.

That wasn't important, he told himself. There would be no need for an escape. The crazy guy was dead and he wasn't going to be marching into Jace's hospital room any time soon. But it wasn't the idea of the crazy captor that put him on edge. Jace knew that his father was dead, but he couldn't help feeling like Valentine was going to burst through the door at any moment and demand an explanation for something that Jace did wrong.

Old insecurities died just as hard as old habits. No matter how many years have passed.

A cacophony of footsteps and hushed voices brought Jace back to attention. Seconds later, Isabelle and Alec appeared in his doorway, followed by Luke, Jocelyn, Magnus and two police officers.

No Clary, though. Or Simon. Something twisted inside of Jace's stomach as he wondered why neither of them were there. What were they doing? He wasn't sure he wanted to know. The way Simon saved the day like the grand hero, who knew how she was thanking him. Jace cringed at the thought.

"My god, Jace," Isabelle said the second she was standing beside him. "You look awful."

Jace looked up at Isablle. Her eyes were wide with unecessary concern. His lips slid into a wry grin. "Izzy, you know that is absolutely impossible, right? I could never look awful."

Obvious relief made Isabelle bark out a laugh. "Still an arrogant ass. You're just fine."

Alec grinned down at Jace then clapped a hand on his shoulder. Jace stifled the urge to wince at the immediate pain that shot down through his arm.

"So when did you start using the last name Lightwood?" Isabelle asked, eyebrows raised.

Before Jace could reply, Alec added, "Not that we care. I mean, we just thought that you, you know, liked being a Wayland." He looked down and began picking at the fraying hem of his jacket sleeve.

"I just thought it would be easier for Maryse and Robert," Jace lied, the words leaving his lips effortlessly. When Jocelyn asked him for his last name, Jace hesitated before telling her it was Lightwood. At the time he wasn't sure why, but now he realized that he was feeling ashamed of his fathers name **(A/N: I know that Valentine's last name isn't Wayland, but thats sort of how it worked out in my story)**. After watching Jocelyn flutter around the room acting motherly and constantly making sure he was okay, he began to hate his father even more. Never once had he been ashamed of his father until then. Valentine had taught Jace all sorts of important things for survivng, but he had never been a good parent.

_"When I give you an order, you do it!" Valentine bellowed, fury rolling off of him in waves, hitting Jace like a tsunami. "Is that so difficult? Can you follow one simple order?" _

_Jace sniffled and nodded vigirously, feeling like his head was about to pop off of his neck. He _did_ follow his father's orders. It wasn't his fault that things ended badly. He was certain that it wasn't because of him, and he wasn't going to let his father keep blaming him for things that were out of his control. _

_Valentines eyes widened as Jace sprung up from where he sat on the carpet. "Johnathan, what are you doing?"_

_A thin smile stretched across Jace's bloody and bruised lips. "Following an order." _

Jace took a deep breath, trying to wash the memories from his mind. "Where's Clary?" hje asked suddenly, wishing to take back the words as soon as they passed his lips.

There was a quick flash in Isabelle's dark eyes and she smirked at Jace. "She's down stairs with _Simon_." Nodding, Jace narrowed his eyes at Isabelle, who chuckled. "They're getting coffee, then they're coming up. Jeeze, don't get your panties in a bunch."

-#^#-

Simon handed Clary the styrofoam cup, watching the steam rise from the dark liquid, looking at the shiny white tile below their feet, looking anywhere at Clary. He cleared his throat. "Clary, do you like Jace?"

Clary paused with her cup of coffee half way to her mouth. "Yeah, he's my friend."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Simon-"

"Just tell me the truth, Clary. Believe it or not, I'm a big boy. I can handle it."

"I don't know," she said after a few agonizing seconds. Simon could tell that she meant it, and while it hurt him it also gave him hope.

"Do you like me?"

She sighed and swiped a red curl behind her ear. "I don't know, Si. I mean, we were just kidnapped. Honestly, I've been thinking about other things. Everything has happened so fast lately. I just don't know."

Simon nodded and took a sip of his coffee. They didn't say anything else as they walked to the elevator. Simon wasn't sure how to feel about that answer. Of course, he knew that she was right. Everything _had_ happened quite quickly. And maybe he should have been focusing more on the kidnapping thing, appreciating the life of all his friends and whatnot, but all he could think about was Clary. The way it felt to kiss her, the way it felt when she kissed him back. He'd been wanting to do that for so long, and now that he did, he only wanted more.

The silver metallic doors of the elevator slid open slowly and the two of them stepped in as a middle-aged nurse with graying hair and bright red lipstick stepped out.

"Fifth floor," Clary said and Simon pressed the corresponding the elevator took them up, Clary drummed her fingers on her thigh, impatient. A pang ran through Simon's bones. She was so eager to see Jace.

When they reached their floor, Simon was tempted to let the doors slide shut and take him anywhere but to Jace after Clary got out. He hesitated, his fingers hovering over the button that would close the doors. But then Clary looked back at him, her green eyes wide and sparkling and he knew that he couldn't do it. If Clary wanted him there, he would be there.

-#^#-

Clary tentatively knocked on the door to Jace's hospital room. In the little rectangle window, she could see her mother standing next to Luke, leaning her head on his shoulder. His arm was around her waist and Clary wondered if Simon had been right about them.

Simon lightly rested his hand on Clary's shoulder. "You okay?"

One corner of her lips tilted up in a small smile. Simon. Simon liked her. She would have to do some thinking about that. Because then there was Jace, and she wasn't sure what she was supposed to think about him.

She swallowed and turned the metal door handle. The whole group turned towards her, each wearing big smiles that Clary took as a good sign.

The biggest smile of them all belonged to Jace. His eyes were bright and despite all the purple and yellow bruises painting his skin he was still beautiful.

"Clary."

She looked away from Jace as the woman police officer spoke her name. She turned towards the officer. Her badge said Talbot.

"You wanted to speak to Jace before you gave your statement?" Officer Talbot said.

Clary nodded. "Can I speak to him alone, please?"

"Of course. We'll wait in the hall, if you'd like."

"That'd be great, thanks." She was too afraid to look at Simon.

Her friends and family followed the police officers out of the door, and she turned to see Jace gazing her with that same bright expression.

"So, you want to speak to me alone, huh." A hint of his perpetual arrogance hovered in his tone.

"Yeah," she said, feeling a little silly. She didn't even know why she wanted to speak to him, much less alone.

"Well, now that you got me alone, are sure it's talking that you want?"

It was remarks like that that made Clary unsure of what she wanted from Jace, or what he wanted from her.

Jace's smile fell a little, probably reading the hesitation on Clary's face. "I'm just kidding, Clary. You know that right?"

She stepped closer and then took a seat in the leather chair beside his bed. "I'm not sure," she said honestly. "Jace, I can never tell with you. One minute you're looking at me like...like I'm this amazing girl and that somehow I'm special, and then you're cracking jokes like I'm just another girl. Like I'm just another toy you're going to use and then toss to the side when you get bored."

Jace's eyes were wide, and the golden color was practically glowing. Clary's chest stirred as he continued to stare at her. He was beautiful, no doubt. His features went together so perfectly, like he was carved from the gods themselves.

"Clary," he breathed. "That's the thing. You say things like that to me, things that no other girl has ever said. And no matter how many times you throw me off guard, I know that I'll never get used to it. And I'll never get bored of it."

**PHALALALA. DURR YA GO. How's that for a good chapter ending? I like it :D **

**MWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA, you'll have to wait to see what happens! But who knows, if you review, I may just update quicker. **

**EEP. I just rea WOLFSBANE by Andrea Cremer. It is the second book in the Nightshade series. It was so amazing. EVERYONE MUST READ THAT SERIES. **

**Bright spot of my day: donuts for breakfast :D  
What's on my mind: My chapstick tastes pretty good.  
Currently listening to: Memory by Sugarcult  
Currently reading: Defiance by Lili St. Crow (fourth book in the Strange Angels series). **

_**OKAY NOW GO REVIEW. THANKS. **_


	20. Picking Up the Pieces

**Yo, no lie: I have no idea where I was going with this. What with Jace's dad and everything, so I'm just going to wing it. Sorry if there are, like, gaping plot holes and inconsistencies and whatnot. **

Too easily, Clary found herself leaning closer to Jace, eyes closed, surrendering to the cadence of his promises. With a great deal of effort, she forced her eyes open and sank back into her leather chair. "Here's the thing about your words," she said, trying to sound unfazed. "They mean nothing."

His eyebrows slowly climbed toward his hairline. Clary braced herself for some absurd remark, but he said nothing.

She continued, "You're practically a professional at smooth-talking, and the job pays in satisfaction. You like conquering a challenge. The kisses and…other stuff are just a bonus."

"You know of me," he said, sitting up straighter in bed. "You know what your friends have told you and what some girls told you. You've gladly listened to what they have to say, but never considered that I have a side of the story, too."

She looked down at her hands. She'd scrubbed them furiously when she got to the hospital, but it felt like there was still dirt embedded beneath her nails. Thinking about the psychopath's dingy lair made Clary shudder. "Anyone can justify their actions, but excuses don't matter. The tears shed, the mascara streaks-that's what matters. I'm not going to let that happen to me."

Something tore through Jace's eyes. It was just for a second, then it rapidly zipped through the rest of his body, turning him rigid. "So, what? You're just going to ward off any guy that might make you feel something wonderful, because you don't want to get your heart broken? Simon is going to have all of his dreams come true because you're too scared. You're going to run away with him because he has never treated you poorly. You're going to get married and have rat-looking children, and you're going to think how happy you are that you never got your heart broken. Who cares who you married, as long as you protect that little heart of yours." He tapped his chest three times with his right hand, hard, causing a soft thudding sound. His left hand rested on top of his thigh, fingers spread out. He looked down at it for a second, then met Clary's eyes. "And here's something I know better than I would like to: The scars are what define a person. If you never receive any scars, they can never heal. They can never imprint on you and change you. If you spend your whole life trying to avoid pain, ensuring you're always happy, you can never really _find _happiness."

Clary forgot how to speak or even breathe. She was blasted into a stunned silence. Coming into this hospital room, she'd never expected that. She'd suspected that her feelings for Jace were beginning to tread the line of dangerous, but that was different. Before, it was his liquid smile, his disheveled hair, molten rhythm of his words that made her heart beat a little faster than she would have liked. She'd known that every syllable that came out of his mouth was carefully calculated, a formula he'd mastered a long time ago.

This guy in the hospital room, though-he was different. Not the boy who'd used only a few empty words to tear Molly to pieces, not the boy who always waited for the perfect opportunity to slip into Clary's path, not the boy who walked with his shoulders thrown back and his face aware of all the people watching him. This was _Jace_. The one who knew about weapons, who happily volunteered to be the last one out of the psycho's dungeon, the one who'd whispered her name right before he'd passed unconscious. The one who wordlessly watched her now as she grappled toward an epiphany.

Clary considered the things she knew about Jace before she met him. He was adopted by the Lightwoods; he had countless girlfriends since coming to the Academy, all of which he broke up with; he had a way with words. That was the extent of it. All of those things she'd been told by others, and she held him to all of it, never cutting him any slack. She'd founded every opinion about him around that information, never bothering to use her own brain.

"I'm sorry," she said finally, quietly, afraid if she spoke too loud it would disrupt the truth of it all, that she'd lose the realization.

"I don't want you to apologize."

"Then-what…?"

"I want you to give me a chance."

-#*#-

It took a little over a week for everything to settle down. By the time the group got back to the Academy, everyone had heard what happened. Girls fawned over Jace _and _Simon. Jace sort of brushed it off because he was used to it, and, Clary hoped, because of the conversation they had in the hospital room. Simon, on the other hand, was eating up the attention.

When people asked about the killer and what happened to him, we told them that the police took care of him and refused to elaborate. Izzy tried her best to pretend she was okay with the way things unfolded that night, but it was apparent to Clary she was struggling with it. Clary wasn't sure whether she should try to talk to Izzy, or give her some space. Seeing as none of them really got much space anymore, she opted to just let Izzy work through it on her own and made it clear she was all ears if Izzy ever needed to talk.

For the first time she can remember since attending the Academy, almost everyone acknowledged Clary. Girls called her name and waved in the hallways, boys asked her out. Classmates turned to her during class and asked her to recount stories from that night. Some girls sadly asked her about her and Jace or her and Simon or Simon and Isabelle. Though Clary wasn't the type of girl that ever craved the limelight, she tried to appease her peers. She tried to tell that night with exact details, but others embellished it for her. After school she chose to hole up in her room, exhausted from all the attention. She didn't see much of Jace or Simon outside of class throughout the week, but that was okay because she needed time to work out her feelings. She'd promised Jace she'd give him a chance to make a new impression, but she'd also told him that Simon had declared his feelings and she was still processing the information.

And though she didn't see a whole lot of Izzy either, Clary saw less Alec than anyone. Not having any idea of Alec's sexual orientation, Mr. Lightwood pulled some strings and got permission for Magnus to stay on campus for a little while, believing he was just a really good friend of Alec's. Though Magnus claimed he would be with his "Alexander" through this whether the school approved or not. Somehow, even with classes, Alec and Magnus found a way to spend every second together.

Jocelyn called Clary about seven times a day, and most of the time Luke was with her. When Clary asked about them, Jocelyn simply laughed and said their relationship wasn't like that.

The only person who didn't seem to care about what happened was Mrs. Gail, who gave Clary and Izzy a B- on their photography project.

-#*#-

Nine days later, Clary sat on her bed, reading her World History textbook, when someone pounded on her door. The textbook slid off her lap and closed with a loud clapping sound when she jumped. She placed a hand over her stampeding heart and smiled at herself when she recognized Simon's special knock. "Come in!" she called.

The door flew violently inward, bouncing off the rubber door stopper on her wall, but Simon didn't come in. He stood in her doorway, wearing his bottom lip with his teeth, eyebrows drawn inward. Clary didn't have time to ask what was wrong or express any sort of concern before he said, "I have to leave the Academy."

"What…do you mean?" she asked slowly, working to keep her composure. It was all she could do to keep from jumping out of her bed and dragging Simon through the door.

Before speaking, he pulls in a long, deep breath. "I'm being kicked out," he mumbled, looking at his feet.

**Voila. The update you've all been waiting for. Hope it lived up to the rest of the story. **


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